that unexpected turn
by raelee514
Summary: Ongoing Epic about how Lance and Allura when to the future and found it be not what they would've expected. Continued timeline fun, and the consequences of the choices you make. Allura/Lance, Keith/Mira ofc , Sven/Romelle. Also, some Keith/Allura and Lance/Lara ofc
1. Pt One Deus Ex Machina: Prologue & Ch1

took that unexpected turn (on the road to forever)

**Notes: Don't Own Voltron:**

**Another Lance/Allura story by me. Weird plot but I couldn't get it out of my head, so I wrote it, hope you guys don't find it too stupid. **

**Will still be writing Time Changes Things as well as this one. **

**Part One Deus Ex Machina**

**Prologue**

_Lance._

_Lance._

He woke up, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he heard the voices again in his head. Lance. They needed him, they needed him to come to them. Lara was still with him, she hadn't left yet, he untangled himself from his date for the night and got out of his bed. Lance. The voices called, they were urgent, they were needy, they were in danger. He hurried, he found what he'd worn that night, on his date with Lara. He pulled on the pair jeans and the black t-shirt, he pushed his feet into a pair of combat boots. All with one thought, hurry, get to the control room, get to the voices, do as they need.

He felt scared for them, the voices, if he let them down, he'd never forgive himself, because their fear was obvious and they were calling out to him, with hope and sincerity. Lance. He heard unspoken words in their call, hurry, we need you, only you can save us, we need you, we need you, please we are in danger. We don't know what to do, this is our last chance.

He knew their desperation, he felt the risk they were taking in calling for him and he understood it. He hurried as he made his way toward the control room. His steps going faster and faster, Lance, he heard again and he started to run. He ran, gaining speed, feeling desperate to get to them before it was too late, before time ran out, he had to hurry and then he turned a corner and was almost to the the control room when Allura came out of another hallway and ran into him.

The smacked into each other, both were at full speed, they slammed into the wall, then the floor. They both groaned and looked at the other blankly, then Lance stood up and helped Allura to stand. His head felt clear but with that came confusion, what the hell had he been doing, listening to a voice in his head, following it with unblinking obedience.

Allura looked over her shoulder at the control room door, then back at Lance, she was blushing and her head looked down. "Thank god, you stopped me, I think I was going to something stupid again," she said.

"Me too," Lance said, trying to think through everything that he'd just been thinking, that couldn't have been his own thoughts, how could you read so much from just a group of voices saying your name. It had be Haggar, but why the control room. He had a bad feeling.

Allura looked at him shocked. "What do you mean?"

Lance grabbed her hand, realized he kept looking at the control room, he still wanted to rush right into it, he saw her looking back at it too. He started moving them away, toward the recreation room, it wasn't far away and it was always open. He flicked on a light and led her to the couch and sat down, Allura sat down next to him.

"Okay, Allura tell me, did you have voices in your head. They sounded like one, saying your name? 'Cause that is what was happening to me?"

Allura nodded. "They needed my help, I was the only one who could, they were desperate, it was their last hope, it could only be me. It was like I could feel how they felt inside of me, I was more than just hearing them, I was feeling them. It went away when we smacked into each other."

"Okay," Lance ran his hands through his hair. "Me too. Exactly the same thing."

"What do think? What do we do? I want to go into the control room," Allura said.

"Haggar, don't know, me too."

Allura waited, and watched him.

Lance stood up and then he turned back to her. "Wake up Keith," he started to say but he didn't finish because the voices were back. Only it was different this time.

_Lance, Allura, please, now, time is running out, if you don't come now Arus is lost._

Allura panicked she stood up and started to run toward the control room, Lance was right after her, soon next to her, then he was at the door first. A part of him was saying to stop her, to not trust this, this could be dangerous but it was small. He had to listen, the voices were so afraid, not only for them but for all of Arus, they had no choice, they had to open the door to the control room.

"Lance quick, open it," Allura said, fear evident in her voice, for her planet, for her people, Lance thought.

The doors slid open and all they saw was blinding golden light. Shading their eyes, they both walked right into it because they could hear the hope and fear in the voices still calling out to them, to please come, please save us, for Arus.

Lance blinked the bright light had turned to darkness and then was standing in the Castle of Lions of control room, only it was slightly different and there were three people in front of him. Two women and a man, they all immediately kneeled before him and Allura.

The woman in the middle, a few years older than him, Lance guessed looked up and spoke. "We are sorry to disrupt your timeline, but welcome to the future of Planet Arus, King Lance and Queen Allura. You are our only hope to keep Arus from destruction for our children's children to have a future as well."

"Future of Planet Arus," Allura repeated.

"Did you call me a King, and then quote Star Wars? Ah, okay, I drank too much of that fruit wine Lara brought with her tonight, and am having one heck of a dream," Lance cracked. "So, uh, time to wake up then?" he tried.

The three of them stood up and the blonde next to the woman who spoke elbowed her, "I told you to rephrase it, I just knew he'd totally latch onto the Star Wars thing, you've read the autobiographies and biographies. Plus, it's just a good movie."

"Lia, shut it," the guy said. "Laurie, I think they are in shock," he said. He took a few steps closer.

Allura grabbed Lance's arm, it was the pressure that cleared Lance's head. This wasn't a dream, they were wide awake, and it wasn't making a lot of sense at all. Lance stepped forward, putting himself between Allura and the man walking close, more like kid, Lance realizing he was younger than either him or Allura but probably had a few years on Pidge.

"I think maybe, I should take you to the medical bay," he started to say.

"No," Lance cut him off. "First you need makes this make sense, or send us home."

"King Lance."

Lance put his hand up. "I'm not a King. What's with the King?"

The man looked back towards the two woman. The oldest, Laurie, Lance recalled looked down at them, and glanced at Lia who looked to be the youngest. Lia turned and walked to the main computer of the control room, holographic images appeared in front of her like a screen, showing charts, graphs and calculation. She poked, typed and pulled figures and then she frowned. "I had it calculated correctly, I don't understand," she said.

"Lia?" the other two said.

"I calculated it correctly," she said again looking up at Laurie. "Yet... I calculated it to pull them out two years after the marriage, and instead it pulled them from, well it looks like five years before the marriage."

"What?"

Allura stepped forward. "What is going on?"

"Lance take them to the medical bay," Laurie snapped. "While we figure this out."

"Your name is Lance?" Lance asked, after sharing another, what the hell did we get ourselves into look with Allura.

The kid turned from the two woman, looked at them, and shrugged. "Most people just call me L.T., come on a doctor should check you out. Lia, we were going to be in trouble anyway, you really put us in deep -"

"Shut it, L.T. and just get them out here," Lia snapped at him, not looking up from her computer. "I don't understand why this happened," she muttered.

As the control room doors closed behind him and Allura, Lance heard Laurie saying, "You promised me you had a handle on how to use the time travel device."

They glanced at each other, Allura then looked around the halls they were walking through. Lance did as well, and it looked relatively the same. There were different pictures on the walls, different people passed by them in the corridors. The route they were walking was same old route to the medical bay. Lance was about to start asking L.T. a few more probing questions, he needed to be sure Allura and he were safe, that this wasn't a trap of some kind dreamed up by Haggar, Zarkon or worse Lotor's creepy mind's. But Allura's gasp stopped him. Someone had stepped through the door, revealing a painting that caught her attention and made her run into the room with her hand shaking as she pointed at the portrait on the wall.

Lance followed her and his jaw fell open.

It was a simple family portrait, though it was clearly one of Arusian Royalty. The couple in the painting were looking directly at each other, the painter had captured a moment of playful eye contact, with large smiles. Their children were all laughing, their eyes bright and their mouths wide in open smiles. Three girls and one boy.

Behind the family was a stunning Arusian sunset, with two carefully, painstakingly perfectly hand painted Lions flying in tandem across the sky.

The lions were blue and red.

The man and the woman were Allura and Lance.

**~~Chapter One~~**

Keith was up and out of his room at five in the morning, to take his morning run before the morning the briefing he had with Coran, then the teams practice runs in the lions. He wasn't to surprised to see Lara Wyeth leaving Lance's room, she saw him and smiled, he nodded hello.

"Uh, where might I find Lance?" she asked.

Keith looked at her, surprised by the question as he fell into step with her. "You mean, he isn't in there snoring?"

"No," she said, looking surprised herself. "I thought maybe if he was up, I'd say goodbye for once."

"He might be in the kitchens, I'll walk you there," Keith said.

Lara nodded and then held her head. "Oh, I drank too much wine last night."

Keith rolled his eyes, he hoped Lance hadn't drank too much wine, because he sure wasn't going to listen to complain about a headache if that was the case. He should know better, date or not, that he was always on duty on Arus. They didn't have off duties nights and Lance knew it. "This way," he said as he led Lara down a corridor to the left toward the Castle kitchens.

Nanny was inside, cooking away, breakfast muffins underway, coffee, and she was mixing her pancake batter. "Good morning, Keith. And?"

"Nanny, this is Lara Wyeth one of Lance's...uh..."

"Lance's friends," Lara said. "Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't. Good thing too, he'd have stuck his fingers in my muffin batter, and I'd have had to kick him out of my kitchen. Do you two want some coffee."

"None for me, Nanny, thank you," Keith said.

"If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate it," Lara asked.

Nanny nodded. "Of course, you can have some coffee. While you drink we can discuss why a nice young lady would spend the night in a man's room when she should've gone home to her own bed."

Keith had to bite the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't bust out laughing as he ducked out of the kitchen, he glanced back and Lara was glaring at him with the green eyes that first drawn Lance to her. He couldn't stop the smile at her expense and she raised a finger at him that was just not polite. He laughed then and went on his way out. It'd be a great story to tell Lance later, though he did wonder where the guy was? It wasn't like him not be out cold at wee hours of the morning.

He was just about to push open the door to the outside of the castle when his communicator went off, he sighed and pulled it off his belt. "This is Commander Kogane?"

"Keith, it's Coran, Allura's maid just went into her room to change out the flowers in her room, and Allura wasn't in her bed. Please come to the control room, now."

Keith frowned, turned around, he had to walk back through the kitchen. He hoped Nanny was mid-lecture with Lara, so Nanny wouldn't ask why he was back inside so soon. He entered the kitchen, Nanny was talking a mile a minute about how a proper young woman should never let a man touch her before marriage because... Keith didn't really listen, but Lara followed him with her eyes, screaming for help and he just shook his head and thankfully made it out of the kitchen without Nanny questioning him.

He then ran to the control, his mind trying to tell him that just because Allura and Lance were both missing, that didn't mean it had any connection, nor was it anything to worry about. His instincts told him that his head was being an idiot, it of course meant something happened, it of course meant there was something to worry about.

Pidge and Hunk were in the control room, Pidge at the computer, Hunk yawning, and Coran looking worried. Keith walked up until he was standing right behind Pidge.

"I can't seem to locate, Lieutenant McClain," Coran said.

"Neither the Princess or Lance's communicators seem to be in the castle, but their lions are still here," Pidge said.

"Bring up the security footage for last night. I ran into Lara, when I got up, she said Lance was already gone. So look between 1am and now, because I know he didn't back with her until after midnight," Keith ordered.

Pidge nodded and brought up all the security cameras onto the main screen in the room, the ones from Allura's room and Lance's. Then rolled them forward, at exactly 2:15 am, they both exited their rooms.

"Follow the Princess, Pidge," Keith ordered.

Pidge pushed some buttons, then they followed Allura's run through the corridors, until she ran smack into Lance right before the control room. Keith cringed at the collision, they were both running so fast they'd knocked each other to the ground, but neither look worst for wear when they got up. They started to talk, they both kept looking at the control room door. Then they walked away.

"Where are they going now?" Hunk said.

"Did see how often they kept looking at the control room doors?"

Keith frowned. "Yeah, are you following them, Pidge?"

"Yes, Keith."

"I don't understand, what is going on," Coran muttered. "Where is the princess now?"

"We'll find her, Coran," Keith said.

"Here they are," Pidge exclaimed.

Allura and Lance in the recreation room came up on the screen. They were talking, but both them still kept looking back. Suddenly, Allura stood up, and started walking but then she stopped short. Two second later they were both running again, at first Allura was ahead, but then Lance gained on her. They were back at the control room, Lance opened the doors, there was a bright golden light and they walked in.

"What?" everyone said.

Pidge brought up what was inside the control room at the same time. All that appeared was the empty, dark, unmanned control room. "Huh?"

"Haggar?" Hunk said.

"Has to be!" Pidge said.

"But we can't assume that just because... I'm not, I don't. What was that?" Keith didn't like this, what the hell had just happened to Allura and Lance, there was something wrong with this. "If this was Haggar, it'd be for Lotor most likely, to grab Allura. Why would Lance be part of it?"

"What has happened to the Princess?" Coran said, sounding worried. "Investigate this, from every angle you can think of..." he said and then walked away.

Keith stood there staring at the split screen Pidge at up on the computer screen. Allura and Lance, opening the control room doors and walking into bright golden light, and then the empty control room. Timestamps matching perfectly. He was baffled. Completely baffled.

He hated being baffled.

"Pidge, I want you to scan for...anomalies, anything that could make that that light, try out that program you made to scan for Haggar's magic, and anything else you can think of. Hunk, uh...go ask Allura's night shift maids if they saw or heard anything weird. I'm going to go interrogate Lara."

"She's still here?" Hunk and Pidge said.

"Get to work, we have two members missing. GO!" he shouted.

Hunk and Pidge nodded and both went to work.

Keith did the same. He had to find them, he just hopped Doom didn't attack when they were gone, two lions down was two lions too many. He made it back to the kitchen in no time at all and felt a sense of relief that Lara was still held captive by Nanny with glossy bored eyes, sipping what looked like a second cup of hot coffee.

"Now I am not saying Lance is not a good boy. He's a very good boy, they all are. Oh, Commander Kogane, you're back again? Is there something wrong?" Nanny asked this time.

Keith stifled a sigh, he had no choice this time, but he decided to delegate. "Coran has asked to see you, Nanny," he said.

"Oh. Well, it was good talking to you Miss Wyeth and I do hope you give what I have been saying some very serious consideration. A young woman with such a promising future as yourself should not be giving away her fruits before they are bought."

Lara turned on Keith the moment Nanny was out of earshot. "How dare you leave me alone with that woman. My own grandmother is more with the times than her, at least all she does is beg me to settle down, pick a guy and pop out babies!"

"I don't have time to apologize about Nanny, Lara. I need to talk to you about Lance," Keith said.

"Did you find him?"

"No. Uh, look, something weird happened last night and he and Princess Allura are missing, and I need to know if you heard, saw, or felt anything strange when you were with him last night?" Keith asked.

"No," Lara said.

Keith glared at her. "Be more specific. Just give me the run down of your date."

Lara drank down the rest of her coffee, then stood up. "Okay, but walk home with me, I have to get ready to be at work by eleven."

Keith nodded and started to lead her to the door behind the kitchen, it was closer to the path toward Lara's house anyway. "This is really quicker to your place anyway," Keith said, "Lance, probably never told you because of the risk of running into Nanny."

"Well, some men are gentlemen," Lara said pointedly.

Keith laughed. "Lara, the night, okay. I don't know what may or may not be significant."

"Right, okay. He picked me up at work, at 6:30ish in the Red Lion, your practice had just ended, we were at my place in two-seconds, where I changed and showered, then we came to the castle. He changed and showered. Then we went off on his bike down the Altea Bar and Grill, I ordered a bottle of fruit wine for the both us and proceeded to drink most of it and teased him into trying it, even though he said it was a girly drink. We had the special fresh caught fish grilled with fresh vegetables, and then we shared a chocolate cupcake and ice cream desert. Then we went to the dance club, where I ordered more fruit wine and he had a couple shots of whiskey to get rid of the taste - he claimed. We danced, we made out, we did it in the back alley," Lara paused. "This helping yet, or do you need more information about the dancing and the sex?"

"No. I don't need more details on the sex and the dancing. Then you two came back here?"

"Not right away, he felt too drunk to drive still, so we played a game of pool with a couple of my friends who were at the club, we made a bundle because my friend Quiana was sure she could beat him for some reason. He's probably going to ask her out this weekend, but that's not out of the ordinary or strange," Lara stopped for a second to get a rock out of her shoe and throw it back onto the path.

"You two have a very strange relationship."

"Not really," Lara said.

"So after the pool games, you came back here?"

"Yes, then there was more making out, and then he asked me to stay a bit, I did, because I was still really drunk and didn't want to walk home - which I think is really why he asked me to stay, we passed out after doing it again, and then when I woke up he wasn't there. Really that is the only strange thing that happened, Keith. Well, besides meeting Princess Allura's archaic, lives in the dark ages, should get with the times Nanny."

Keith sighed.

"What happened, Keith?" Lara asked, her tone changing. "Where are they? Did I sleep through an alarm?"

"No. There was no alarm. It's just, Lance and Allura both...we just... I don't know what happened but they aren't in the Castle, the GPS on their communicators isn't active. We don't know where they are," Keith shook his head. "I better get back to the Castle, thanks Lara."

"Tell him to call me when you find his ass, Keith."

"I will," Keith said.

**~~~.~~~**

Allura was staring out at a beautiful whole world.

Her planet had rebuilt.

A city stood where, where a broken town with crumbling buildings stood in her present. In the hills, in her time there was burnt out forest, dead trees, and people hiding in caves. Here in the future, now, there was villages tucked into the hills, the woodlands were back, and Allura could picture families and children running around on the hills, happy and beautiful. She couldn't help the tears, she couldn't help but hope that at least this part of the future was real and true. Seeing this, her planet whole and beautiful, the way it should be, it was starting to scare her, why had they pulled her and Lance here, why did they need them? What was threatening Arus now?

Lance walked up and leaned against the wall by the window, crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at her. "Are you crying?"

"Arus, it's beautiful," Allura said.

Lance turned and looked out the window. He stood for a moment taking it all in and then he nodded. "Wow, it's, it's amazing. It reminds me of that book on Ancient Arusian History, just all the modern vehicles and ships are out of place, you know?"

Allura nodded. "I'm glad they kept the old world feel for architecture."

"I guess we should find out what is threatening everyone."

"Arus has found peace, that shouldn't be messed with."

"Right," Lance said. "We protect the future."

They both grew quiet after that, an awkward quiet, Lance went back to leaning against the wall, arms crossed against his chest, but his eyes downcast. Allura kept looking out the window, but now she wasn't really seeing her planet. Neither one of them really knew what to do with the elephant in the room, with the huge information they'd learned less than six hours ago on their way to medical wing of the Castle to be checked out for shock. Allura found it insane she wasn't in shock, being pulled to the future was one thing, but finding out...seeing that portrait, of her, with him, with the children...and the lions.

"Should we talk about it?" she asked.

Lance looked up startled. "No, no. You love Keith!" he said, almost loud enough to be a shout. "And me, I'm not, I'm not the commitment type, you know, I'm all wrong for you."

Allura blushed, it was her turn to look down. "How do you know that?" she asked.

"About Keith," Lance said. "I think everyone knows, except Keith."

Allura sighed.

"Sorry," he said.

"No, that's okay, not your fault."

"Allura, I mean, we can protect Arus, without you know...having to go along with the whole you and me thing. Right? I mean how would it happen anyway, it was obviously some weird fluke or something."

Allura looked up and nodded. "Okay. We should find out what is threatening Arus."

"Right," Lance stood up from the wall and crossed the room they were in and opened the door. "Hey, where is that kid L.T.?" he shouted out into the hallway.

A nurse walked to him, he made room for her to walk into the room. She looked between them, her eyes wide and her face was flushed. "Queen Allura, King Lance, um, I am to tell you that King Coran will be with you shortly."

"Coran?" Allura said.

"Yes, your daughter Liona was the first to use the name to honor your advisor, it's been used throughout the generations ever since. King Coran should be here soon, with Princess Allura, Princess Lia and Prince Lance."

Lance and Allura looked at each other again feeling uncomfortable, the names seemed to make the ancestry seem all that much more real. They only held eye contact for a few seconds and then looked away.

"It's been an honor to meet you both," the nurse said, bowing before she left the room.

Allura went back to the window, seeing her planet whole again it was the only thing in this whole situation she was finding that was keeping her from screaming, from falling apart completely. From pinching herself constantly and wondering why she wasn't waking up from the craziest dream she'd ever had.

Behind her she heard Lance starting to pace, he wasn't good at staying still at just accepting situations and not doing something about them. This was not normal situation, waiting and seeing wasn't an option he would like accepting. He wanted to get them home, he wanted this to be a dream too, he'd said so more than once. He agreed with her on keeping this future Arus whole. But it bizarre that people kept calling him a King - if they got married he wouldn't even be a King. King would not be the title a man with no royal blood would be handed. She sighed, why was she even considering the details. It was all crazy, she'd never marry Lance. Let alone have children, or a daughter named Liona...though that was a pretty name.

She loved Keith. Strong, brave, noble, amazing Keith, who would do anything for her and for her people. Keith would be an amazing Prince-Consort to her people. Keith who made her heart hurt sometimes to look at and sometimes she didn't know what to do or how to act around him. She loved Lance too, but not like that, Keith was the one who had her attention, he was the one she wanted to be with.

The door opened, making Allura turn from the window and she gasped. The man who walked through looked so much like Lance it was uncanny. He was older, by at least ten years but it was obvious, he was a descendant of Lance's. But as she stepped closer Allura realized that he didn't have Lance's eyes, he had her mother's eyes, he had her eyes. Lance walked so he stood somewhat between the man and her, but closer to her and Allura didn't blame her. She wanted to stay closer to him too.

"I am King Coran. First of all I would like to apologize for my children. They were ordered to not under any circumstances to use the time travel device because our scientists have not yet worked out ALL THE KINKS!" as he shouted the last three words he looked particularly at Princess Lia.

Lia shrugged.

King Coran sighed and ran his hands through his hair much like the way Lance always did when he was upset, or nervous and Allura heard Lance stifled swear. She reached out and touched his shoulder. He turned toward her, eyes wide and freaked out and nodded her agreement. She felt the same way.

"I am told that you were pulled out earlier in your timeline than the kids meant. So, you are not aware of your own marriage?"

"There is just no way we'd be married," Allura said.

"I'm not the committed type," Lance said.

"He sounds like you L.T.," Princess Allura said, the one they knew as Laurie to her brother.

King Coran sighed. "I really hope this doesn't mess to much with the future. Did you three think of any of this?"

"We were thinking of saving the planet," all three of them said.

Allura stepped forward then. "How is Arus in danger. Lance and I will do whatever we can to save Arus."

"Yes, what is threatening Arus, it looks like there is peace here. Outside that window I see a planet that is not at war."

"The Galaxy has been at peace for the last 100 years, King Coran said. There have been a few little skirmishes but nothing major. Arus hasn't had the need to use Voltron in over 175 years. The decision was made to only use him as a last resort, to use other methods to fight and use the defender only when needed. But now we find a need for Voltron, only the lions will not react to anyone who tries to fly them."

Allura and Lance glanced at each other.

"Why do you need Voltron?"

"It's a meteor," Lia said. "It's twice the size of Arus, and it's on a collision course, it's due to hit in two weeks time now. We need to all five lions pilots and the knowledge to form Voltron, to move the meteor off the path of Arus and and how to destroy into small enough fragments it can't harm or disrupt anything else in its path."

"What do you mean the lions won't react?" Lance said.

"We sent people down to fly them, the put the keys in and the lions won't let them fly them. Sometimes they start, but they won't move out of the dens." Laurie said. "Lance and Lia, started talking about the prophecy, about how when you and your team showed up on Arus, how you were the five that were meant to reawaken the lions. Lia's been working with the scientist on the time travel device. I wasn't sure at first, but times running out, so I went along with it."

King Coran cleared his throat. "Which is something I am surprised about, Laurie."

"Father, we can't let Arus be destroyed. Our people still honor the descendants of Queen Allura's time, they honor them daily and they honor their losses, we can not let them down and let them die by a meteor after all this planet went through with the Doom Wars and after."

"After?" Allura and Lance said unison.

King Coran held up a hand. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you already know too much of your own future."

L.T. cleared his throat this time. "So, can you two help with the lions or what?"

"Give me the key to the red lion," Lance said.

"It's in the control room," Lia said.

"Well, let's go," Lance said, walking out of the door.

Allura couldn't help but smile, at least this was something to do. She couldn't even fathom why the Lions weren't reacting to anyone, but she was sure the Red Lion would react to Lance. Maybe that would be enough, for him to pass the torch maybe? Maybe she could as well?

She followed Lance out of the door, and then behind her she heard the other four follow her and tried not think of the fact that were all her and Lance's flesh and blood. Tried not think about the fact she saw so much of her self in Laurie, but that she had Lance's height and eyes. That King Coran was almost an exact copy of Lance except for the eyes. That L.T.'s personality seemed to be Lance's though he must take after his mother. Lia at least didn't scream at her to be one or the other of them.

She'd focus on Lia.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Lance placed the key into Red, breath held but Red responded like always, roared into life, so he lifted her off of her platform and out of the lava, into the sky and flew in an easy arc down to a gentle landing in front of the Castle. A crowd was already gathered, by the time he made his way down on foot to greet King Coran and his children, Allura hurried up to him. "No issues, I take it," she said.

"None," he said, he noticed the Arusian guards keeping the civilians away from the royals, he saw men and women, staring at him and Allura, some pointing, he was sure he heard their names, but he reminded himself that two of their current royals were their namesakes.

"Uh, King Coran," he walked over to him. "What happens usually?"

Coran was too busy staring at the lion, he walked past Lance and touched it. "It's, I've, I've never seen it fly before," he said, reverantly petting the metal of the Lion's front right leg. All three of his children behind him, doing the same.

L.T. stared. "It's amazing, I can't believe you just went down there and shot right out of the volcano, like that," he looked at Lance. "I've tried so many times," he said.

"What happens?" Allura asked, walking up to L.T.

Lance was shocked, he looked at Red and then at the kid, L.T.. It made no sense, why wasn't the Lion reaction to L.T. the kid seemed a lot like him, what was the problem?

"Nothing happens. I put in the key, nothing happens. The Lion remains inactive."

"The same happens when I try to activate Blue Lion," Laurie said, turning toward Allura.

"And me Green," Lia said.

Allura glanced at Lance.

Coran sighed. "They had trouble once before, but they found the right pilots. But I found nothing in the journals, diaries of the time to tell me how they chose who they chose. Why they were the right pilots. They were descendants of course. They are always descendants. If not of you two, of Commander Kogane, Garrett or Stoker."

"Well we have double that, here, now," Lia said.

Lance and Allura looked at each other.

"She means our mother," L.T. said. "Our mom is a direct descendant of Darrel Stoker, you knew him as Pidge. She's on the other side of the planet right now, visiting family, but she'll be home soon."

"And angry that Lia was messing with her time travel device," Coran said. "Which I will get yelled at about," he sighed.

Lance shut his eyes and count to ten. "Okay, okay, uh, I am not related to any of you, can we just pretend that. And either is Pidge, because Pidge just turned fifteen and I don't think he's even held a girls hand... And Allura..."

"Keith, who is related to Keith?" Allura whispered, looking around, as if she expected to see Keith himself walking around.

"No one," Laurie said, "The last Kogane died on Arus 50 years ago, long after Voltron stopped flying."

Allura shook her head. "No?"

Lance walked up to her, grabbed her arm. "Allura, breathe. Think. Keith is fine, he's back in our present, fine, with a whole future laid out. We're ... Just how far in the future did you pull us?"

Coran sighed. "Over 300 years."

Lance blinked. "Right, shouldn't you like then have no actual blood of ours left in you then?"

"Your children and their children's children always had big families, married young and grew. They fought for years, to keep their family and the royal house of Arus alive. It is how Arus has remained a Planet of Peace, Prosperity and an Icon for others across the universe," the other Princess Allura explain, sounding so much like Allura, Lance had to take a step way from her and not let himself notice that her eyes were almost exactly like his. He didn't get it, did biology really carry on that far forward. There had to be to many other bloodlines intertwined.

"We are the first generation, in a long while to have any resemblance to either of you," Lia said, seeing Lance and Allura's faces. "I mean, I don't obviously. But Laurie, my father, L.T. a little bit. I think it's recessive genes, and the fact that my mother though she's a descendant of a different non-Arusian, her family always had basic Arusian colorings, blue eyes, blonde hair, but also some brown from Pidge's gene pool. Personally, I blame him for me being so short."

Lance laughed he didn't know how not too, Allura smiled and started to giggle. They both looked at each other and then tried to calm themselves, they just weren't processing where they were on any real level. Lance knew he wasn't, he was sure he saw the same thing in Allura's eyes.

"Do you have files on who has flown the Lions?"

"Yes," the royals said.

"Okay, I think, I think Allura and I should read them. Everything, psychological profiles, evaluations, whatever you have."

"We have everything."

Allura stepped forward. "Is my father's tomb still in the Castle?"

"Yes," King Coran nodded.

"I would like after Lance and I look things over, I think I would like to visit there," Allura said, glancing at Lance and shrugging.

He nodded. It wouldn't hurt.

"L.T. take them to their room, uh," King Coran rake his hands through his hair. "We'll bring in another bed for you, Lance," he said.

Then he looked up at the lion. L.T. was still looking at it, as were all of them really. Lance nudged Allura. "Uh, King Coran, Laurie, L.T., Lia," Lance said. "Want to ride in the Red Lion?" he asked with an evil grin.

They all nodded. "Follow me up. Coming Allura?"

She nodded, and followed him up, then turned to helped the King up, then the others. She led them into the cockpit, behind Lance. Lance started the Lion up, grinning, as Allura pulled out the extra seats and buckled them all in. She then sat down next to him, buckled in and looked over at him. "Don't be too..."

"Too what?"

"You?"

"Now where is the fun in doing that, Allura," Lance winked, shot Red straight up in the air and into outer space, pushing mach 5.

Behind them there were screams of:

"Woooohooooo," from L.T.

"Yeeeeeessssss," from Lia.

"Waited for this my whole life!" From King Coran.

"Mom, is going to kill us for not waiting!" From Laurie.

Allura next to him just shook her head, and grinned.

~~~~.~~~~

Allura was afraid of the bedroom they were in. It had been called 'their' room. A quick glance at the pictures in frames on the shelves, on the tables, even on the walls, showed pictures of herself and Lance, always herself and Lance. Or them with children. Children!

She didn't want to take a closer look, it was too unsettling, it was to impossible to comprehend. This all was. She knew it was really happening, somehow she did but somehow it hadn't really processed as real in her mind. A part of her was still expecting to wake up in her own bed and find out this had been just really strange and unsettling dream. Not really a nightmare but a dream she would never share with anyone, or never mention again.

She sat in the middle of the bed, trying not to think if it truly had ever been slept on by a version of her, a version of her that been married, that had made love to a man - a man that was Lance of all people - Allura shivered. She was thinking about it, this was not thinking about it, she wasn't thinking about anything that happened on the bed but sleeping. It was a bed, it was slept in, that was what beds were for.

Allura took a deep breath and picked up the first file on the pile in front of her. A picture of a young girl, who couldn't have been more than sixteen looked up at her. She had brown hair and big blue eyes, she was grinning in a way that Allura found familiar but couldn't quite place. She put the picture face down to the side and picked up the piece of paper that was next.

"Name: Liona Renee McClain (Princess of Arus) Age: 16. Pilot: Red Lion," Allura read half out loud, half to herself, in writing she recognized as her own. "Notes: too much like her father, Al needs to keep an extra on her make sure she won't take off on her own/only he can't give her special treatment either because they are twins. She's probably the most natural leader of the group, only not sure if she's the right fit to lead the team. It's either her or Gregory. Lance and Keith think only time will tell. I think they both think it's Liona, am I being took protective of my daughter? Only reason she's not flying Black Lion is she didn't want to, she's perfectly capable. She's better in it than Gregory," Allura paused, steeled herself and flipped to the next page. The handwriting changed, but she recognized the quick messy scrawl. It was Lance.

"Allura, you aren't being too protective, you think I like I think she's destined to the lead team. She's a natural leader, she takes after you. Your the Queen and she's followed your lead. She's our girl, Baby... I love you and you know how much I love our girls and Al. She's Red, he's Blue Gregory is the best of the best Arus has given us and he's true to Black. Something happens, Liona's got black and you know damn well. Little Lia will want in the cockpit of Red. Sorry 'bout that but at least we can keep her away still for a few more years. And Little Roma can't talk yet, huh? Man, I'm writing you letter here. Might as well tell you again then. Love you, and you were sexy as hell today when you read Greg and Eli the riot act about that daredevil act they pulled when they were showing off for their girlfriends. Hair flying in the wind, standing with your hands on your hips on top of Black Lion, showing those damn kids what for... God, Baby, I love you.

Now I have to tell you two to get a room in reports? GET A ROOM. Keith."

Allura dropped the file, she felt like it'd just burned her and snapped it closed it. Just in time to see Lance, from where he was on the cot they'd brought in for him to sleep in, throw a file away from him onto the floor.

Their eyes met.

Then they both looked away, Allura blushed and she prayed he hadn't read something else like what she'd just read, or worse something that the 'Allura' he allegedly wed had written. Stop thinking about that part, that part doesn't matter, getting Voltron up and flying did, saving this peaceful future mattered, getting back home to the right present did.

"Maybe we should go ahead to the last Voltron team?" Allura suggested, clearing her throat and getting up and going to the boxes. "Instead of looking at every team since ours. Just look at the last one," she muttered. "We don't even know what we are looking for."

"I was thinking," Lance said. "Standing up, that maybe this isn't the way to go at all. Maybe we just go straight to your dad. I mean, that might be the best way. I didn't think of that until you suggested it. Want to do that now? Also, you know maybe he'll know how to get us home," Lance said.

Allura nodded, they both jumped up and they were outside the bedroom within seconds. Lance went walked ahead of her by a few paces, she followed him, they both knew the way to her father's tomb, down to the catacombs. Allura was thankful Lance walked ahead of her, that he didn't try to talk to her, she couldn't handle conversation right now. If he tried to make sense of this with her, she didn't know what she would say to him, what she would think. She might yell something ridiculous and stupid like, don't you even call me 'Baby.'

It was dumb, it was dumb to be angry at him for something that could never happen. He and her would never happen. She stayed behind him, walking, careful not to look at any of the portraits on the walls, afraid she might spot one of them again. She didn't want to admit how that one she'd seen was still so clear in her head, they didn't look all that much older in it then they were now. But they were pretty young now, she'd just turned nineteen, he wasn't even twenty-five. The only two people younger than then them, and they were claiming to be ancestors, were L.T. and Lia.

She wanted to be home, she wanted to see the real Coran, she wanted cry into Keith's shoulder about how impossible and unreal all of this felt, how it was so far out of the realm of her ability to process. It was worse than seeing a robeast, or facing down Lotor when he tried to grab or touch her. Because those things she had basis for it, those things happened in wars, this was too, she had no word for it in her vocabulary.

Her planet outside this Castle was completely rebuilt, it was beautiful, it was perfect. It was a meteor that was threatening, nothing more or nothing less. The lions just wouldn't react to the people trying to pilot them. Unlike the issue of her falling in love with Lance, Allura was sure the problem with Voltron was fixable. Her father, her father would help them.

They reached the entrance to the tomb. Lance held back and he looked at her for the first time since they'd entered the bedroom, Allura realized. "Do you want to go in alone?"

Allura nodded. "Thank you."

"I'll be right here." Lance said.

She nodded and took the torch he offered her, already lit up. She said a quiet thank you and walked forward into the tomb. Ready to ask the spirit of her father what she and Lance needed to do to get back to the present.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes: **Okay, wrote this chapter with a major Migraine, so I hope it isn't too choppy. Also there will be no update to Time Changes Things today, due to Migraine. Tomorrow/Saturday may be slow writing days too, just warning you guys, I must prefer being faster on the output. But dang RL sometimes, LOL. Hope you enjoy :-)

~~Chapter Three

"You must help us you see, Planet Arus is in danger without the ability to form Voltron."

Unlit candles flickered to life and King Alfor's spirit appeared above his tomb, he didn't look a day over thirty-five, the age was when Zarkon ended his life. "Coran, everything will be okay, it will go unnoticed. Do not worry about what happens in the following days. Have faith in what is to come, time will work itself out."

Coran, still kneeling at the bottom of the steps that led up to the resting place of his former King, of his friend, took in the words and had to admit he did not understand them. "I do not understand?"

Alfor smiled at him, kindly yet with a bit condescension. "I am afraid I cannot explain further. My daughter and Lance's shall return and time will fall back into place," Alfor said as he seemed to become part of the air itself above his coffin.

Coran stood up onto shaking feet. He did not understand at all but he learned all could from his King. He turned around to go back up to the control room, to find Commander Kogane and tell him what he had learned from the dead King.

~~~~.~~~~

Keith stood dead center in the middle Lance's room. Bookcase, more full of DVDs and CDs than books, though there were a few books there. Mostly Vonnegut, and random other authors that Keith didn't recognize, Keith turned and looked toward the other wall. A picture of an Earth landscape hung there, flat lands that led out to a mountain fill horizon, large clouds covering the whole sky. It was photograph and not a painting. Underneath it was Lance's bureau, standard issue Arusian craftsmanship, just like Keith's own. Same color, some drawers. Lance had pictures of his parents, his sister, the team on it. There were magazines. Motorcycles, cars, a Playboy.

Keith turned again, now he was facing the bed, it was unmade. Strange occurrence, Lance like he rest of them being Academy trained rose up and made his bed - unless it was an alarm. But they'd go back to make their beds, clean up their rooms. But Keith had the answer for the messy bed, partly anyway, Lara had woken up alone... What he didn't know was why? He turned a bit more and eyed the camera that was in the corner of the room.

They never looked at the surveillance that was in their own bedrooms, it was there only in case off emergencies but to look at it, to even acknowledge that it existed felt wrong to them all. They never even thought about it, Keith hadn't even remembered it, until he saw it when he walked into the room. Allura didn't have one in her room - she was the Princess after all. But they weren't protected by a crown. Lance was just a pilot. Keith sighed. He was going to have to ask Pidge to bring up the footage of last night, see how and why Lance woke up. Maybe get some idea of what sent him out of his room.

He just hoped after using that footage he could go back to forgetting it existed again, that all of them could. Keith frowned, jaw clenched and turned again and looked toward the small bathroom, that each of their rooms had. It was just a toilet, sink and shower that barely fit Keith's own frame - he often wondered how Hunk managed to shower in his. Keith walked inside of it, Lance's toiletries all sat there, waiting to be used, he touched them, all dry. They hadn't been used since yesterday.

"Commander Kogane, if you could come to my office," Coran's voice came through is communicator.

Keith pulled it from his pocket. "Yes, sir," he said, walking out of Lance's room with one more backward glance at the camera. He pushed a button the communicator. "Pidge, pull up the footage from Lance's room from last night, will you, we need to look at it. Wait for me before you watch it, though."

"Really?" Pidge squeaked at him.

"That's an order," Keith said.

"Aye aye, Chief," Pidge said.

Keith made his way quickly through the hall and pushed opened Coran's office door. "Coran?"

"I have spoken with King Alfor. He wasn't very helpful, but he seems to believe that Allura and Commander McClain will return to us in time and that we shouldn't worry."

"What? Coran, with all due respect to the spirit of King Alfor, that's insane," Keith yelled. "Princess Allura is missing, my second-in-command is missing. If doom attacks we are two pilots down, we can't form Voltron, how can we protect Arus? He told you not to worry? Allura's missing for God's sake."

"I agree with you, I was not placated by his words at all, yet I must respect what he said. He's never led us wrong. If he says we should not worry about what is to come in the next few days, that their return will put things back into place. I will have faith in that. I believe in my King."

Keith bit his tongue. Coran and Allura both had unwavering faith in King Alfor, and in their defense Alfor had yet to steer them in a wrong direction. But this time Keith wasn't feeling the love, or the faith. He nodded. "I hope that faith is warranted," he said, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible.

Coran gave him a weak smile. "Thank you for trying to understand, Commander. You may proceed however you feel is best."

Keith nodded and left the room, to meet Pidge in the control room.

~~~~.~~~~

Allura walked up the steps to her father's coffin, the torch her only light, pushing her way through cobwebs and ignoring spiders. He hadn't been visited in so long, she thought, tears stinging her eyes at the idea that over time that her father's spirit would be forgotten as the generations moved on. Had her children visited her spirit? A visual of them visiting Lance's spirit came to her unbidden and she didn't know whether to laugh or cry - this future was making her feel she belonged in an hospital wing with a straight jacket on.

Nothing made sense, everything was up and down. She wiped dust off of the coffin with her hand, she unlocked the clasped and opened the coffin, and lifted it revealing her mummified father. Tears fell but she took a deep breath.

"Father, it was just last week and yet centuries have past as well, since we have spoken. I need your help. I feel as if I am in a dream or bad hallucination, but I know it is real. I am out of my time, I am seeing things I don't think I should know, I don't think can even come into existence to be honest. Father, why won't the lions fly? What is the element missing? Who needs to be flying them? Father? Can you send me and Lance home? Father, please answer me?"

Allura knelt down and began to pray, to the Arusian God, to her father and she waited.

And waited.

Father never kept her waiting. He appeared and he answered. She looked up and saw only the torch light, from where she'd placed it in a slot on the wall, flickering agains a wall instead of her father's spirit. His ghost wasn't there, he wasn't manifesting himself. He wasn't showing up.

"Father?" she whispered again into the chamber, her whisper echoing against the silence of the walls, the chamber was small, enclosed. The cobwebs, dust, and probably spider bites were starting to make her itch.

"Arus is beautiful, it's in a Golden Age once again. I can't let a meteor destroy it, please you must help us to form Voltron? Father?" Allura pleaded one last time to the empty air, but she felt no energy, the hair on her arms remained flat, there was no one in the room with her but the spiders.

Her father's spirit was gone. Maybe once she had passed, he'd moved on, to the next realm, to Heaven. Allura didn't know but she did know she had no Father here to guide her. To help her, to aid her in her task of saving her people.

She stood up, took the torch back up in her hand and turned around. She stepped out of the tomb. Lance was leaning against the wall, hands akimbo on the back of his head, but he straightened up when he saw her return. He stepped forward, his expression going from bored to serious and concerned in a split second. Allura met his eyes, the kindness in them that he rarely let anyone see and she fell apart, she dropped the torch to the floor, causing it to snuff out and collapsed into Lance's arms crying.

Lance held her until she ran out of tears, Allura had no idea how long they stood there in the dark of the hallway of the catacomb basements of the Castle of Lions. She sniffled and pulled away, wiping her nose with her hand, wishing she had one of Nanny's handkerchiefs.

"Sorry," she mumbled to Lance.

"It's okay, it's been a crazy twenty-four hours."

"As it only been that long?"

"About, I think, maybe. Time right now is messing with my head," Lance said. He looked toward to the door to her father's tomb. "I take it that Alfor was a no show?"

Allura nodded. "I didn't sense him at all, there is nothing in there but dust and spiders, he's gone," tears rose up into her eyes again, she turned from Lance and wiped at them. "I don't know what to do. The only thing in all of this that makes sense to me is saving Arus from the meteor, but if we can't get five pilots for the Lions?"

"We'll figure it out, Allura," Lance said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "We will. It's a good thing for us to focus on, that and I'm going to ask Princess Lia tomorrow about how she's getting us home, okay? Then we can..."

"Never talk about this?"

"Right," Lance agreed. "And uh, I'm going to go ask for another room, it's nuts they put us in the same room. This is a castle, there must be another empty room, right?" He slung an arm around her. "Come on Princess, we should try to get some sleep, so I'll walk you back up."

Allura smiled, leaning into him and letting him guide her. "Nanny and Coran must be so worried," she thought out loud.

"Keith's probably blowing a gasket too," Lance said.

Allura blushed and ducked her head, but she was thankful to Lance for letting her know Keith cared.

"Lance?" Allura said.

"Yeah," he said.

"It's not that I don't love you, you know," she said. "It's just that..."

"I get it, trust me. It's nuts right? I mean, okay I was on this date once, back on Earth. At a carnival. There was a fortune teller booth, on the stand her crystal ball was on was this little quote it said: 'the future fluid' then of course she went to tell me I had a this great destiny and it would take me far from home. Who knew she'd be right about that, unless, you know lucky guess. But you know me, I argued with her and asked how I could have a destiny if the future fluid. She said the future is in flux but but some things are fixed, other things aren't. I'm figuring Arus having Peace. Fixed. Us. Some weird Fluke, Allura. Right?"

"It must be, I can't even conceive of it."

"Me either. I mean, I can't imagine marrying anyone, ever, let alone having a family," Lance laughed. "Well here we are, go on in, I'm going to track down someone for another room."

"We will get home, right?" she asked, as she opened the door.

"We have too," Lance said. "So, we will."

Allura nodded. "Night."

"Night."

Closing the door behind her, Allura leaned against it and frowned at the bed, she just couldn't do it. She walked over to the cot they'd brought in for Lance and climbed into that, closing her eyes a part of her wished she'd wake up in the morning in her own time.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Allura jumped when the door to the bedroom opened, Lance saw her on the cot in the low light from the moon coming in the full windows behind it. "Sorry, I couldn't find anyone but servants and really didn't want to be called King again by some random person," he shook his head. "You okay?"

"I am, I just I can't sleep on that," she pointed to the bed by looking at it warily with her eyes.

Lance looked from Allura to the bed, then did it again. "Uh, why?" he asked. "Because I'm pretty sure it's much more comfortable than that cot."

Allura blushed, she looked away from him and prayed that he'd drop this she really didn't want to spell it out to him. Not only was embarrassing she felt it was sad and pathetic at her age.

"Oh," Lance said suddenly. "It's because they said that was OUR bed, huh?"

Allura nodded and risked looking up, now Lance was staring at the bed like it had come to life. "Oh, I didn't mean to make you freaked out about it," she said. "I mean why would you be at least you've had sex." Her hand flew to her mouth, why had she said that out loud, why had she just blurted that out.

Lance looked back over at her and Allura wasn't sure because the moon-lighting though it illuminated the room wasn't really bright, but Lance might be blushing. "Yeah, but not sex with you," he said. "Not that it'd be bad, because it wouldn't cause we'd be smoking - not that I think about that, often, or at all, really -shutting up now."

Allura's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"I said I was shutting up now."

"You've thought of..." she blushed redder but she couldn't stop staring at him. "But why would..."

"Why wouldn't I, Allura?" Lance said and she could tell from his tone he'd picked up on her actual shock.

"Because I'm the Princess. I'm Proper and Beautiful but I'm not sexy, or accessible. I'm not anything that would actually excite a man, Nanny makes sure of that and for some reason I keep letting her. I mean Keith sometimes looks at me like he might like me, but he's never even tried to hold my hand. I mean I've just turned nineteen and I've never been kissed, and Nanny wants me to meet a Prince instantly become a bride. And all I can worry about is if Keith's thinks I'm pretty, like some little girl."

"You're not a little girl. You have too much on your shoulders for that, and yeah Coran and Nanny are in the dark ages about women and men I'll give you that, but maybe it's just because it's the only thing they could protect you from."

"And marrying me off to some stranger is protecting me? None of the Princes we've run into have seemed very - sheltered."

"Well, in their defense they are all evil. Maybe a non-evil prince will be okay," Lance said with a shrug.

Allura laughed.

"For the record, Keith thinks your gorgeous, we all do," Lance said.

"He does, you do?"

"Do you believe I do?" Lance asked looking her straight in the eye.

Allura blushed but looking into his hazel eyes her stomach felt suddenly unsettled and something about that made her believe him. "Yes," she whispered, wondering as it came out why she had whispered it.

"Good. So no reason to wonder if I'm wrong about Keith, right?" he smiled.

Allura nodded then she realized he was standing by her at the foot of the cot, so she patted it. "Sit," she invited.

He looked around, his eyes landing on the bed and then he sat down on the foot of the cot. "This is weird," he said.

"I keep expecting to wake up, to have Nanny and Coran all worried over me. To see you guys standing behind them trying to look all brave and stoic, telling me that Haggar did some magic thing at me again but somehow you guys saved me - again."

"No such luck, I think we really are in the future."

"Bizarre one."

"Insane one."

Allura sighed. "What do we do about Voltron."

"I have no idea. Read the files, despite all the weird love notes, get down to the last team, figure out how it worked. Check into all the pilots that weren't relations to any of us, see why maybe they worked with the Lions. I wanna see too if there were any ancestors of Sven too, maybe people on Pollux?"

Allura nodded. "True, yes, that could help."

"I also want to see what may happen when I'm in red and I hand over the controls to L.T. maybe a literal torch passing might help?" Lance said.

"Very literal," Allura said.

"Never know, right?"

"I guess."

Allura frowned and turned so she could look out the window, the city scape was far enough away not to stop the stars, but it was luminous even in its distance. "I know it's my time, but this is my planet," she said.

Lance reached out and touched her hand, which was on her knee. "I know, I made an oath to Arus, Allura, not going to ignore that no matter what time I'm in...That is a weird sentence."

Allura felt the weird unsettled feeling again but she looked back to him and smiled because she was happy he understood. "Good," she said, trying not to let her fear show that they would let these people who had called on them down. Fear that her beautiful happy planet might be destroyed when it had finally found peace and happiness.

"Hey, we'll do this," Lance said taking her hand in his and squeezing it. "I promise."

She swallowed then and gave up the ghost that she was afraid of letting them down. "We're over our head, they are expecting things from us I don't think we know, what if we can't save them?"

"Then we try to do it with Red and Blue, ourselves," Lance said.

Allura nodded. "Then that's what we do."

"Last resort though, I saw the readouts on this meteor, in Lions alone for too long it's pretty much a suicide mission," Lance said soberly. "But I'm willing for Arus."

"What about our timeline?" Allura said, her fear growing. "Do we owe it to the timeline or to where we are now? This is so confusing."

"Shit," Lance said. "This is confusing. I don't know, maybe if we can't figure it out, we have to let this Arus be destroyed - and go back to our timeline. But we'll know Allura, about the meteor, about the issue. We can make sure it can't happen, maybe that'll be enough?"

"That sounds too simple."

"Simple is good," Lance said.

Allura let go of his hand, to bring both of her hands up to her temples. "Ugh, my head hurts."

Lance stood up walked to the windows. "I don't get what they thought we could do?"

"They seem to kind of revere us, like I revere I my father in a way."

Lance turned to her eyes wide. "You don't think anyone goes and talks to our spirits do you?"

Allura eyes widened. "Oh God, I hope not!"

"That's just too twisted for me, right up there with people calling me King," he visibly shuddered.

"What's so wrong with the title of King, though it's odd they would call you that, it's not really how it would work. However, being called a King with such respect as everyone here has done is an honor, it means you are thought of with honor, you are looked up too, highly respected."

"Right. And that's just weird, I'm not..."

"What?" Allura asked confused.

"Honorable, respectable, someone anyone would idealize the way these people seem to have idealized me. Now you I get, if you'd married Keith in this wacky world I'd get it. But me, no."

"That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard," Allura said, getting up out of the cot and walking to stand next to him. "You are one of the most honorable, respectable men I know. And I only know six of them, you, Keith, Coran, Hunk, Sven and Pidge."

Lance chuckled. "Pidge?"

"He's a man to me, more of man than some men I've run into in our...adventures I guess is a good word for it."

"Yeah, the kid's going to be a better guy than me."

"Stop that," Allura said with a frown.

Lance shook his head. "Thanks for thinking highly, Princess. I'm just an overly cocky pilot who got lucky because no one would miss him if this assignment went south. I'm pretty okay with that, I know my limits."

Allura shook her head, her mind spinning, she'd always known that sometimes Lance's sense of humor would sort of put himself down, and sometimes he got really testy and insecure about something Keith, or anyone else might say, but she'd never realized how deep it ran until this moment. He wasn't being fair to himself at all she thought, she always saw an amazing guy when she looked at him. But she didn't know how to tell him that, how to show him that, she frown and looked back out at the future of her planet.

It hit her that she really had a bigger issue to think about first. Saving these people and saving her timeline. And if she could only save one, which did she choose?

~~.~~

Keith sent everyone else out of the room, there was no reason for everyone to watch the surveillance tape of Lance's bedroom. He wasn't doing it so much to protect Lance, but for Lara, not that she'd ever know he saw them...Keith blushed. He took a deep cleansing breath and then blew it out, focused on why he was looking at the surveillance. He needed to see if he could pick up any clue about what had made Lance run off to the control room.

Pidge had set it up to start at 1 am. Keith hit play, the room was empty, clean, and orderly. Then the door opened, Lara walked in first, kicking off her shoes followed by Lance, who shrugged off his leather jacket, then took off her coat for her. He hung them both up in his closet, Lara flopped down on his bed, smiled up at him and beaconed him to follow her with her finger. She was all open sexuality and pure grace, Keith felt a surge of lust and hit the fast forward button, it'd be far far too long since he'd given in to any urges, all because every time he found himself experiencing an attraction to someone he'd also experience a sense of guilt. Guilt that he was cheating on Allura, someone he wasn't even sure he could have? And if he could have her? Would she want a guy like him?

A guy who took himself and things way too seriously half the time? A guy who was always trying to perfect, and worked too hard and long at making sure he was? Keith sighed. He watched Lance and Lara lose their clothes in fast forward, but even then he could see how easy it was for Lance to just lose himself in it, to even laugh during it, to not make it mean more than it had too. Keith had never slept with anyone he didn't love, which meant he'd slept with all of one woman. He still missed her, sometimes even with Allura, that feeling of guilt rushed him only this time about another woman.

Keith sighed. He stopped fast forwarding, Lance and Lara were sound asleep now. Keith watched them sleep, and sleep. And sleep. He hit the fast forward button, at two Lance started to move in his sleep. Keith stopped fast forwarding, Lance was moving a bit, mumbling Keith thought and he cursed Lara's hair since it was obscuring Lance's mouth. Five minutes later Lance sat up, fully alert. He got out of the bed and pulled on his jeans and the t-shirt, he looked rushed, worried, concerned. Keith had seen it all before, a million times, when the alarms were blaring and the castle was under attack from Doom.

There had been no alarms that night. Lance opened his door.

Keith rewound the fifteen minutes between 2 and 2:15. Sleeping, restless sleep, mumbling he couldn't make out because of Lara's damn hair, then up and ready and out. Like the trained professional Lance was when there was trouble.

What was the trouble? Keith sighed.

Pidge's scans had picked up nothing.

Coran said that King Alfor had simply said they'd be back in time.

Back in time? What did that even mean. Coran was now not worried, and either was Nanny. King Alfor had spoken and all was okay? He was a ghost not a God.

Keith stood up from his desk, in the office he used for the truly crazy amount paperwork the Garrison required for their mission on Arus, considering they ignored them most of the time. He walked out and made his way to the recreation room, Pidge and Hunk were sitting there too, but they weren't watching television or playing a game like normal. Keith sat down in a chair across from the couch they shared.

Pidge looked at him. "Did it help?"

"No. He was talking in his sleep but Lara's hair was in his face."

"Figures, that girl has a lot of hair."

Keith nodded.

"Nanny was humming earlier, she and Coran are completely placated by whatever King Alfor said," Hunk said. "What was it again? I'd like to be placated."

Keith shrugged. "Something about how they'd be back in time and not to worry about the coming days."

Pidge's nose wrinkled. "That doesn't make sense."

"I know," Keith said.

"I don't like it, I don't like it at all!" Hunk stood up, fist clenched and stalked over to the windows. "They aren't here, where are they, it looks like they disappeared by magic and we all know who that usually means."

"I don't think it was Haggar," Keith said.

"Me either," said Pidge.

Hunk looked at both of them, waiting for an explanation.

"If it was Haggar she'd be working for Zarkon or Lotor. They'd want Allura, yes. But they wouldn't care about Lance. If they'd want anyone of us, it'd be likely to be Keith."

Hunk nodded. "Right, he's the commander."

"Right," Pidge said.

"Then why the hell was Lance with her? Or her with Lance?"

They all stayed quiet, trying to think of a reason. Any reason. They all remained blank. Keith then stood up. "I need to hear it from Alfor's mouth myself," he said.

"Me too," Pidge said getting up to follow him.

"Wait for me," Hunk said.

The three of them made their way down to Alfor's tomb in silence, Keith went inside first and lit the candles around coffin from a wall torch that was still lit just outside the room. They all bent down to their knees and prayed silently to the King.

Keith thought, "I need to know Allura is safe, that Lance is okay. I need to know they aren't in danger."

They waited for full two minutes then stood when they thought nothing was going to happen.

"Guess the big guy, doesn't want to let us know himself," Hunk said.

"It was worth a try," Pidge said.

Keith stayed quiet, he walked over to snuff out a candle when Alfor suddenly appeared.

[I] _Young brave men, you have come because you feel helpless._ [/I]

"Yes," Keith said. "What did you mean they'll return in time?"

[I] _That they will return in time and things will fall back in place._ [/I]

"Are they safe?"

Alfor nodded.

Keith found he didn't feel better. "How do you know?"

Alfor smiled. _Have faith, young man, they'll return their experiences will have made them both stronger._

"Where are they," Pidge asked from behind Keith.

Keith nodded in agreement.

King Alfor smiled again, that enigmatic smile of Keith was sure all spirits must give naturally. _They have not gone far, yet they are suns and moons away. Time will go back in place, only they will change. Don't worry about what is to come for you. Arus will be safe._

Keith had a bad feeling, this wasn't helping, how was Coran okay with this? "I don't understand..." he said but Alfor had faded away, he let out a frustrated growl.

"What?" Hunk said.

"I can never figure out his riddles," Pidge muttered. "In fact, he makes me feel stupid."

"Aww, little buddy you aren't stupid, the ghost of King Alfor is just... uh, well strange," Hunk said.

Keith snuffed out the candles and they left, as they rode the elevator back up to the control room, they all felt at a loss. "What do you suppose he meant by don't worry about what is to come? Arus will be safe?"

Hunk and Pidge looked at each other and then Keith. They were all thinking the same thing, but none of them wanted to say it out loud. Keith made a decision. "The three of us are going out in our lions first thing tomorrow, heavy training. We need to be tip top shape, if we're the only line of protection for Arus right now."

Hunk and Pidge both nodded.

The three of them walked to their rooms in sober silence.


	5. Chapter 5

chapter five

Lance took a breathe and turned his head, L.T. was in the pilot seat behind him, "Ready to give it a try?" he asked holding Red in a hover in the Arusian sky. L.T. nodded. Lance stood up, still holding the control, young man slipped in behind the controls and took them his hands. Lance still had his hand on it and he went to let go.

"Don't let go yet," L.T. said, his voice going high.

Lance nodded, the kid was pale, sweating, it was making Lance feel uneasy. "Red flies smooth, you're a good pilot, I saw you flying this morning."

"Thanks but, this is a lion, not only that but Red Lion. Generations upon generations of my family have flown this lion, it's... whew," L.T. blew out a long breathe.

"Breath the oxygen back in, Kid," Lance said.

L.T. breathed in.

"I'm letting go now," Lance said.

"Okay," L.T. squeaked.

Lance held his own breath as he let go of the control with hand that still held on that was still controlling the lion. Nothing seemed to change at first, Lance breathed in and glanced at L.T. "Try going up," he started to say when everything when dark, Red Lion's entire systems went completely offline.

"No!" L.T. exclaimed jumping up as the large mechanical Lion started flying out of the sky. Lance jumped back into the seat and the second his hands hit the controls and he punched the reset button Red Lion roared back into life.

"What the hell?" Lance muttered. "Why do you remember me, but won't fly for him, huh? Could you tell me?" he asked the Lion

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, I really thought it might work, why won't it work?"

Lance shook his head as he moved to set Red back down it's lair. "I don't know, I just don't know."

~~.~~

Allura gasped as Red Lion started falling from the sky, all signs of life and power gone from it, next to her Princess Laurie and King Coran both doing the same. Then it roared to life, powerful and strong and curved off onto the path back towards its volcanic home. Allura breathed in a few times to calm her nerves but she turned from the viewport window, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. It hadn't worked.

"It didn't work," King Coran stated the obvious. "It was worth a shot."

Laurie sighed. "What will we do?" she said.

Allura wanted to have an answer but she didn't know, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to go home, she missed Nanny nagging her of all things, she missed her Coran's worried brow. She wanted to just sit next to Keith and be quiet and be near him and know she was safe and in the company of a good and wonderful man. She wanted to see the people of her Arus, determined, resilient, a bit shellshocked but never beaten down. They would fight and fight for their home.

She would fight and fight for them.

"Allura do you and Lance any other ideas, yet?" she heard Princess Laurie ask.

Allura bit her lip to keep from yelling at the woman before, Laurie was older than both her and Lance, yet she kept looking to them for answers they couldn't give. They weren't even from their time, why had this three children of this King brought them here? Why? What had they thought they could do?

She was about to ask that at least, ask why they had thought to bring her and Lance here in the first place, what thought they had in their heads about what knowledge she and Lance might have. But the door to the room they'd been watching the Lion from flew open and Lia rushed in. "It's Mom, her shuttle just landed. She's back."

Laurie blanched.

King Coran nodded.

"At least she might help me figure out what went wrong with the time device," Lia said.

Allura sighed, great another person who would look at her a woman she wasn't yet, that she never would be, because she would never marry Lance. The doors pushed open and again, and L.T. walked in, Laurie rushed over to her brother and hugged him. Lia stood by them also, they started talking in hushed tones in the corner of the room.

Lance walked over to Allura, he was looking at her strangely. She stared back at him. "What?""

"Nothing, I was just going to say you look angry."

"I am," she whispered to him, touching his arm and leading them to another corner of the room. "I feel lost here, helpless and I still don't even know why they brought us here. Why did they feel we were their only hope?"

"Does seem rather stupid," Lance muttered.

"I want to go home," Allura said, tears escaped her right eye.

Lance brought his hand up and caught her tears with his thumb. "I won't make promises I can't keep, okay. But I'll try everything I can think of to get us back," he said.

Allura nodded.

The door flew open again and woman not much taller than Princess Lia stalked inside. She had brown hair, glasses perched on her nose but besides needing glasses, Allura didn't see any resemblance to Pidge. She gave her husband a look and he shrugged and pointed to Allura and Lance.

She turned and looked at them. She walked over to them. "Have experienced any side effects from the time travel?" she asked.

"Shock."

"Yes, that," Allura nodded.

"But nothing physical."

"Not sleeping very well," Lance said.

Allura found herself just nodding again.

"I'm Queen Ella, it's an honor to meet you both. However, I am completely baffled as to why my children brought you here?" she turned and looked her children. "Lia, please explain your reasons for using the my time travel device against my wishes and without using ANY of my safety protocols?"

"What are your safety protocols?" Lance asked, curious, since what was the point of a time travel device anyway.

"To only use it to go to past, to only observe, and only be gone for ninety minutes or less. I believe it may be a great tool to learn more about our history. Lia?"

"Well, we don't know when the Lions were made, so we can't go back to see how the lions choose pilots. So, Laurie was reading the Prophecies, looking through to see if any mentioned the meteor, and she found a section that did and it said. 'When the King and Queen of Red and Blue are Out of Time, When Arusian Earth Is On Collision Course, Five More Will...' Well the rest was burned out but see, it had to be them? So we decided to bring them here. Only something happened and it took them out before they've even started dating, and we can't send them back yet, because one I can't figure out how to calculate where they came from because my calculations for when they were married were correct in the first place. It's all in the computer, they shouldn't be here, their married versions should be..."

"Wait!" Lance, Allura and Ella both yelled all together.

Ella glanced at the two of them. "You two first."

"Prophecies?" they both asked, Allura stepped forward and continued. "Do you mean the Prophecies of Altarus about Voltron? Because I thought most of those were lost. The only one I've ever seen or read was the one that foretold about Lance and his teammates coming to Arus?"

"They were found, in an ancient cavern that was found after an earthquake 123 years ago," Queen Ella explained. "They are full of holes, burned pages, ripped pages. Laurie however has devoted her life to studying them."

"It was one I hadn't seen before, there are so many, some have already come to pass. There are a surprising amount that haven't... I've been trying to catalogue everything. The past, the future - to know when Arus will have a future need for Voltron. Then scientists warned us about the meteor."

Allura felt shaky but there was no where to sit, she reached out and grabbed for Lance, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her toward him. It was something she'd seen him do a million times on dates, it made her blush a bit but at the same time she definitely felt steadier, her weight against his. He was more solid than the impression of his lanky frame gave him.

"And what is this prophecy?" Lance asked.

"When the King and Queen of Red and Blue are Out of Time, When Arusian Earth Is On Collision Course, Five More Will -" Laurie repeated. "It cuts off, there is a burnt out section of the scroll."

"And we already know the King and Queen of Red and Blue are you and Allura," L.T. explained.

Allura didn't want to know she didn't yet her mouth opened. "How do you know that?"

"Because of the Prophecies that have already come true. In the Scrolls, you two are either referred too as: King and Queen of Red and Blue, together, meaning you working together as a team, after your marriage. Prior to your marriage it depends on where you are in your relationship. Princess of Blue and Lance of Red is very standard, but then once their is relationship it shifts to Princess of Blue and Prince of Red. But drawings and descriptions in the scroll are very clear it's still Lance. And there are clear cut moments, that Voltron Force, in your time and era went through where the two of you do something specific that is monumental that the prophecies mention.

There are of course deeds by Keith Kogane, and my ancestor Darrel Stoker as well, Sven Holgersson and Hunk Garrett. And many individual moments by the two of you. And other members of the various other Voltron Force members. The details can be quite astounding, then of course there are the gaps. Your time is highly detailed, as is that of your children and their children. Then it gets spotty for long awhile, then there are more details again, then again more spotty, and for this age of peace there is nothing, this is the first one I found that seemed to be for our time. But I keep finding future references. A lot of future references. So I believe that we must find a way to stop the meteor, it's why I told Lia and Lance about the prophecy, I'm the one who asked Lia to use the time device, I was sure she could do it."

"I'm still lost as how you can track a relationship, she and I aren't going to have," Lance muttered.

Queen Ella sighed.

"I, I would like to see the scrolls," Allura said, her mind reeling, all those scrolls thought lost and they had her life on them. A life they were saying she shared with Lance and not Keith? She didn't believe it, she wanted to see it. She shook her head back and forth denying it, but her heart was hammering in her chest. She'd grown up up believing in those prophecies, in the few she knew, the few she'd learned at her father's knee. And the one she had held most dear.

Suddenly an unbidden memory floated to her mind, one she knew had always remembered, that she'd always kept in her heart that had given her sense of trust and safety in the five strange men who had shown up at her Castle. Had allowed her to give him the keys to the Voltron.

Her father's voice was in her head, he was tucking her into her bed, "This war will not be forever, my Allura, Voltron will not be lost to us forever. Someday five brave men will arrive, and one of them with be the handsome man who steals your heart away from me - and I'll allow it because he will keep you safe." Allura remembers arguing she'd never love anyone but him, no one but him.

It was all so clear in her head, the memory that she'd somehow forgotten but kept in her heart. She'd trusted them all on sight, fallen for Keith immediately and everything had felt right and true. Now Allura didn't know what to think. What had her father known she didn't? Coran had shown her only a scroll that had the prophecy of the five strangers, there was nothing about her and one of them. She'd been raised to have faith in things she couldn't see, to have faith in her intuitions and her gut instincts.

Everything around her now was making her second guess herself.

"I'd like to see them now," Allura said.

Laurie nodded.

Allura stepped out of Lance's hold but Lance reached out and grabbed her when she looked like she was going to fall the second he let go. Everyone stared at her. Allura blushed, she did feel faint, it was all too much but she wasn't about to collapse underneath it all. She needed to just face it and go from there. "I'm okay," she said to everyone.

Lance however pulled her so she was facing him. "Are you sure? Do you want me to come with you?"

Allura shook her head. "No, I need to do this alone, this is...I'll explain it later, but this is everything I was raised to believe in and..." she trailed off and looked over at the rest of the people in the room. "I don't know what to do if it's true," she whispered to him before gathering her strength and walking away from him.

~~.~~

Lance watches Allura walk away with Laurie, all instincts telling him that it's a bad idea, a really bad idea. All the talk about the prophecies and the scrolls it taken a rug right out from under Allura more than even time traveling in the first place had. He'd never seen her that frightened and he'd seen her scared and fighting it. He himself had been the one making her scared and making her fight it for her to be a better pilot and member of the team.

He'd seen her face to face with Lotor, fighting back even though she was terrified of what he might do, to her, to Keith, to her people and she never looked that white or that shaken to her core.

"Lia, explain the calculations to me again? You say they are clearly to correct to have taken them out of a year where they are married?"

Lia nodded and pulled a small computer out of her pocket, hit a button and brought up a large holographic screen. "These are my initial calculations, I have checked them a thousand times since they came through - they shouldn't be here. The married Lance and Allura should be. I can't figure it out, and I have no clue, since these calculations are correct, how to put them back where they belong."

Lance didn't like the sound of that, at all. He walked over and watched as Queen Ella took over the graphs and equations. "What is the exact date, you were taken from, Lance?"

"It was uh, August 14, 2000, 2:15 a.m Arusian Standard."

Queen Ella frowned, did a few more calculations, then she did a few more, and she looked at her daughter. "This is unsettling, were their any energy fluctuations?"

"No."

"Any issues with the telepathic link you had to make to connect to them both to accomplish this."

Lance's eyes widened.

"No, L.T. and Laurie found them both easy as pie and I was able to connect via them, I continue to have issues with knowing it's possible and the fact I still can't figure out how to scientifically qualify it."

"Yes, you and me both."

"Uh, telepathic link?"

Queen Ella turned. "Yes, every year the all humanoid biological lifeforms, be them Arusian or Earthling, gain more and more use of their brain, lowgrade telepathic power is common, especially with family members. You're great grandson was a neurologist who was studying the field, right before both you and Allura died he took scans of your brainwaves. Allura has always had the ability since she was born, along with her above average intuition. She's been at times able to hear others thoughts and project hers to them, I believe it's happened once or twice with your Commander Kogane thus far in your life."

Lance nodded, he'd just put that down to Keith being Keith, he could do anything even freaky mind tricks and Allura being well, Allura she was intuitive, he got that. He usually listened to his own instincts himself, they usual led him right. "Yeah, I guess."

"Both of you and Allura had higher than average intuition, years of working together and being together, you both telepathically spoke often over the last ten years of your lives. He wanted to have records of what it looked like, he studied you both for the last five years of your lives."

Lance shuddered, it had to be wrong to hear about the end of your life like that. "Right, so what about it?"

"The kids used your brainwaves, yours and Allura's as a base to search you out when they opened the portal to connect to you and call you forward," Ella said, she eyed her daughter. "Just what did you say, come to future and save us?"

"We didn't mention the future part, we just said they had to save us, they had to help us, we kind of just projected the desperation," Lia said.

"Almost blindly walked into it too," Lance muttered.

Ella turned, "You stopped and started?"

"Well Allura and I smacked right into each other," Lance explained, "It knocked some sense into us, but then we heard them again and it was so pleading, both us felt the urgency to protect, to help. It's kind of second nature in our line of work."

Ella frowned. "But instant connection to them, Lia. Laurie and L.T. didn't reach out and not find them, or find them lose him and them and have to find them again, more than once?"

"They didn't lose them that time really, well L.T. didn't, he still felt them, he sensed that they still felt the pull to come help us but they were too aware, awake, he figured out we woke them up. Laurie took a bit to reconnect and I never did at all."

Ella nodded, then she started to type. "Okay, we need to go to the control. Anymore questions, Lance?"

"Uh, no, I wish Pidge was here to dumb this down for me."

Ella smiled. "Thank you," she said, "I always wondered if I was smart enough to make him proud, now i know. Come on Lia."

Lia grinnned at Lance. "She's going to make do equations all night, like a person doesn't have a life beyond math," she muttered.

Lance laughed as he watched them walk away even though he didn't really feel it, he still saw the humor in the familial situation, it reminded him of him and the guys. He did miss Pidge, Pidge could make sense of the math, Hunk would be able to offer some insight too. Keith would most likely have something to say about the the ability of the brain to hear another persons thoughts beyond the magic Haggar used.

Lance sighed, great he was alone, now what? He left the room too, started to wonder the halls aimlessly. Sometimes just walking without an destination in mind helped his mind mull over whatever it was he needed to think about, whatever problem he was having at the moment. None of this was normal though. This was him and Allura trapped out of time, this was Arus in danger from a meteor with Voltron at their finger tips and no pilots for the lions.

Five Pilots Will...

What was the rest of that sentence? Lance wondered. "Fall out of the sky?" He wondered, then he laughed because that was pretty much what he and the others had done. But they'd escaped Zarkon, there was no enemies now. But Laurie had mentioned a future need for Voltron, how far in the future? The planet was beautiful, and whole.

He hated to think another cycle of war would come. He sighed, his mind drifting back to Allura and how the prophecy talk had affected her. Maybe he should track her down, but she said she needed to do it alone and she was strong. Stronger than most people gave her any credit for, he thought, even Keith who gave her a lot of credit but was probably overprotective due to his feelings.

Lance shook his head. Keith probably punch him just on principle if he heard anything about Lance and Allura. Lance knew he would if the situation was switched, so then again maybe Keith wouldn't he was a lot better at not letting his petty emotions get him in trouble.

Lance looked up an laughed where he realized where he'd walked too. His old room. He looked around, the corridor was kind of dusty, unused, he pushed the buttons at the door, idly poking in his old code just because and the door slide open. "Huh," he said, walking inside and seeing the room was full of movies,music, and more books than Lance ever thought he'd own, a desk, a couch and another portrait of him and Allura on the wall. It was by the same painter from before. The children were missing this time, but the playful fun wasn't, Allura was on his knee but she was arched back laughing fully, almost as if it was belly laugh, and he was smiling big wide, he had a million lines around his eyes. Maybe they were older than he thought they were in those paintings?

The sun had set in this picture, but it still had the Red Lion and Blue Lion in the sky, looking like they'd been hand painted in later, flying past Arus's biggest moon.

He shook his head at how happy they looked, especially Allura, he was pretty sure he'd never seen her smile like that, or laugh like that. He'd be thrilled if he could get her belly laugh, he thought thinking that should be goal. Yet, it seemed impossible to him to thin that he could ever make someone like her so happy. For all the great things he saw in the this future the idea of them, just blew his mind.

He sat down at the desk, it didnt have any dust on it, yet the hall had been dusty. THat meant a maid came down here and dusted this room, this room that had been his and this Castle kept, just as it always was, because it'd been his? That was wacky, he thought, picking up one of the photos on the desk.

It was him holding two babies, they looked tiny and new, with tufts of brown hair, he looked awkward and happy in the picture. Lance stared at it and then put it down. He pulled open a drawer, there was files in it, he pulled one out. Curious.

"Castle Security," he read out loud, he flipped it open. "There was a post it note at the top. 'Keith you suck, I promised Allura a date tonight?' was written on it in his handwriting. Underneath that in Keith's handwriting was. 'You two are already married with twins. You got her, why do you need a date. I promised Mira a date tonight. I'm not married, I have no children. My needs trump yours. And more importantly I'm still your Commanding Officer.' Underneath that Lance saw that he'd written. 'And I'm your damn King. Made by Popular Arusian Demand' 'Screw it McClain you're on Duty!' 'You suck! You know how hard it is to get laid with twins!'

By this time the written conversation was on the back of the note, Lance felt like he was reading about other people, and he wondered just where he and Keith were that they were passing notes in tiny scrawl. He looked at the summary report underneath the note and noticed that the duty log clearly showed he'd been on duty that night. He laughed. He put the file back in, complete with the odd post it note full of conversation between him and Keith.

He pulled open another drawer, inside that were about ten copies of the same journal he currently had under his bed. The one he scrawled most nights before he hit his lights and went to sleep. They were fighting a war, they went through so much and saw so much hardship, death but also amazing moments of hope and strength. He needed something to put down all the bad and all the good, to make some sense of it.

"Huh," he thought. He pulled them out, all of them, then opened them, front page only until he found the one for 2000. He went to August 14, they must get him back, wouldn't this entire timeline be crumpling around them if they hadn't. Hell maybe all the answers were right here in his own handwriting.

He looked at the page.

_Yeah, so uh, look sorry about this, but yeah to me sitting at the desk. I've got nothing to offer you. It's, complicated and crazy. Allura and I feel like we know too much, about our own futures and about what they are telling us will happen. And there was...well... okay this is the bottomline. We want our own choices right, so we aren't telling anyone about what we saw. We aren't even sharing everything we peeked at it, what we know with each other - And yeah, you're going to fight it but morbid curiosity is going to get you and your going to read things in your journal, moments about you and Allura, steps along the way._

_Avoidance. That's the plan, right man?_

_Anyway Lara looked good still in your bed. It's something to think about._

Lance closed the journal and called himself a bastard.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Allura stared at what she was seeing, the words had been torn away, but drawings remained and they were detailed enough to tell the story. They were of her, Lance, Sven and Romelle. On planet, on foot, surrounded by Drule's. Lance looked hurt, his space suit was ripped up the side of his leg, she had her arm around his waist and he was leaning on her shoulder his arm around her. Romelle looked hurt as well, and Sven was holding her up, they were other slaves, being made to walk on what looked to be a pecarious ledge in a series of drawings.

The dates written on the drawings were that far from Allura's present - that was if she ever got back to it. Looking at it she felt horror, and scared but she followed the series until she came to a picture of her and Lance kissing.

She gasped and dropped the paper. It fell to the floor, picture side down and on the back in Ancient Arusian was a written prophecy to go along with the embrace. Allura stared at from where she was in her chair, stared at it and stared. If she read it she would know when it happened, how it happened, why it happened.

But she didn't believe it could happen, she didn't believe it at all, she loved Keith, she'd always loved Keith. With his dark eyes and his dark hair, and his sweet nature. Allura picked up the paper, she dared it to tell her she could ever fall for anyone else, that she could ever feel the way she did inside about anyone else but Keith. It just wasn't possible, it wasn't.

_The images I saw were quick, King Quantus wants the prophecies to be riddles. But they are riddles no matter how you write them. I saw Lance of Red Lion, during the Drule Capture on the unknown planet with Princess of Blue and Sven and Romelle of Pollux. There was an escape attempt, they all almost made it but Lance of Red fell into river that led to three different waterfalls. Images changed, I see him in a cave, falling through the ground. Then I see Princess of Blue she won't stop looking, she risks recapture but Sven saves her. She insist on looking longer. She chooses to go to the cave, while the others check the waterfalls. Then I don't know, the next thing I see is them in the cave, by a fire kissing, then they stop in shock. - Seer Altea._

Some of the prophecies were written in riddles, or nonesense poems, others like this, straight forward wordings but still they were images that people saw. Allura stared at the picture, this Altea, drew of her and Lance. This kiss. She's never been kissed, her first kiss should be Keith. Tears hit her cheeks and she sighed. She pushed the pages away.

It won't happen, it wont', Allura promised herself. She wiped at her eyes and she picked up more prophecies, looking for ones that don't mention her time, her life, at all looking for the present, for the the near future of where she is. She needed to find out about the Five Pilots mentioned in the prophecy Laurie mentioned. Still sobbing she gasped out for breathe.

"Princess Allura," Laurie jumped from her seat from where she is looking for things too. "Are you okay? What is it?"

Allura shook her head and tried to control her tears but she couldn't. Another prophecy with her and Lance. Another picture showing intimacy, a kiss, something that has never even happened to her. Something she dreams of happening with another man. It's too much. "I don't love him, I don't love Lance. I love Keith, I want Keith!" She grabbed at the drawing she'd pushed aside and held it up to Laurie. "This, this is supposed happen only a few months from when we are in our present, if we were there. How? How? I've never been kissed. Ever, and he's not going to be first, he's not, he can't be, he can't."

It was too much, Allura dropped the paper and she stood up, Laurie was trying to calm her down, to touch her, probably try to reassure her but Allura couldn't stand it. Allura pushed her away, using her training from Keith and Lance, and then she ran off blindly, thankful that that Castle layout was the same. At least her home was the same but it was only a very small comfort.

She ran right to Keith's old room without even thinking about it, she ran right to Keith. She started when she realized where she'd gone to, fresh tears stinging her eyes and her face as she looked at the door. She tried and it didn't open it was locked. Allura sniffled and tried Keith's code, he'd given it too her, told her she could always use it, always come to him to talk about anything. That he understood how hard and how frightening fighting in a war could be. He'd always be there for her, but he wasn't now. She jumped in her skin when his code worked, her heart jumped to her throat.

Walking into his room, Allura almost thought maybe she'd gone back home, maybe he'd be in there. But he wasn't. It was his room though but it wasn't at the same time. Everything was in its place, but it was in a place. There was plaque on the wall over the bed. Allura walked up to it.

_Keith Kogane was the first Commander of Voltron Force. He fought for the protection of Arus through the two Drule Wars, and also against his own Galaxy Alliance when it turned against the Voltron Force until once again the people of the Galaxy saw the corruption within it, thanks to the Voltron Force. He married Mira Riann a young woman of Arusian blood and built his life on Arus and remained a trusted confidant and friend of the King and Queen until their deaths. He died in his sleep at the age of 101, having outlived his wife Mira by 20 years. His two children Akira and Charlotte both went on to become members of the Voltron Force. Akira flying the Black Lion like his father, and Charlotte was a part of the team as a medical doctor and working castle defenses._

"Mira? Mira? Mira! Mira!" Allura questioned, then yelled and she picked up a figurine of a lion that was Keith's old bureau and threw it against the wall and watched it shatter. In shock and horror she watched the pieces fly and fall to the floor.

"What the hell?" Lance ran into the still open door.

Allura took one look at him and she collapse on the floor crying hysterically again. "I'm not kissing you, I love Keith, I don't care what the plaque says," she sputtered out between sobs.

She felt Lance behind her on the floor, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a half hug but he didn't say anything, he didn't do anything else. He just let her cry and she did until she ran out of tears.

Allura turned into Lance's shoulder and hid her head completely embarrassed. She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to do, the prophecies, they'd said it in black and white, with pictures. She'd seen more than one referring to her and Lance as a future couple of Arus, as the future royal leaders.

Her belief system was being tested. Her heart was being broken.

"Who is Mira?" she whispered finally.

"Who?" Lance asked.

"Mira, it says on the plaque, Keith marries Mira Riann. Who is she?"

"Uh," Lance stammered. "Never met her."

"Good, maybe he won't meet her then," Allura snapped.

"Prophecy reading, not fun?" Lance asked, using his hand to tilt her face up to look at him. "Don't be embarrassed, Allura, okay. I'm freaked out too."

"You aren't acting like an hysterical girl."

"I'm getting ready to snap, trust me," Lance said. "Because, this is a mess. We can't help them, and if they can't send us back."

"Can't send us back?"

"Don't worry about that yet, talk to me. This all about Keith?"

Allura nodded, then she shook her head. "Its that. Arusian Prophecies, especially those connected to Voltron and the people who pilot them and the royalty. I was raised to believe they were true, to have faith in their honesty, and to be wary of them warnings. That they were there to guide us and help us, and show us how our past protectors protected us - to learn from them. And that it was a horrible loss that we had lost them. That they were not known, and to think that they are depicting us? I don't... I don't know. And when Laurie first mentioned them I had a memory, it triggered a memory. My father, he knew, he know one of the Voltron Force would be my husband," she swallowed. "What did he know? His words, I may not have consciously recalled them, but they were why I trusted you five so easily, they were why I believed in you all. They were why I felt safe, his words and knowing that prophecy about how the five pilots would come and save us in our time our need."

Lance nodded. "I get that."

"But it was more, he knew I'd love one of you. But it's Keith."

"Yeah, I know," he smiled. "Allura we'll get home and we'll make our own future. No one can tell us what to choose."

Allura nodded. "What about Mira?"

Lance shook his head. "As far as I know there is no Mira yet, so no worries, okay?"

"I feel stupid."

"Don't."

Allura pushed herself away from him, feeling too close, too safe in his arms, suddenly, he was being too nice and saying all the right things. She stood up and moved away. "I broke a lion."

"It's just glass or something, it's no big, plus you're Princess Allura," Lance said standing up too.

"I guess all your rooms are like little museums?"

"Mine's an office really, museum-slash-office, I don't know," Lance said scratching his head.

Allura nodded. "I want to go home."

Lance grabbed her hand, and bent down making her look in his eyes. "We'll make that clear we need that to be a priority, okay."

She thought about the planet was it was now though, it's whole rebuilt beauty coming back to her mind. "What about the meteor?"

"Want me to look at the prophecies?"

"No. I'll keep doing that. I can do it. I feel stronger now. I make my own choices. Right?"

"Right."

Allura hugged him, quickly and then she stepped away. "I ran off on Laurie, I should go find her an apologize," she gave him a half smile. "Thank you." Allura hurried away, trying to ignore the idea in her head that was running away from him. She wasn't running from Lance, she wasn't she was trying to behave as she should. She was Princess of Arus. She had to be strong, she had to brave, and she shouldn't let her romantic worries dictate how she behaved when in unpredictable and troublesome situation. No matter how crazy it all was. Allura breathed in and out through nose, trying to find her center, she could be strong, she could face where she was for now. Then she'd go home and make her own choices.


	7. Chapter 7

chapter Seven

Lance slept on the couch in his room and woke to sirens blasting, on automatic he tried to jump up like he always would but found himself opening a closet without any clothes in it, then he looked around and remembered when he was as opposed to where he was. But alarms were going off and that wasn't good, he pulled his blaster out of his jacket, which he'd tossed on the desk chair before he'd collapsed on the couch. Shrugging it on, gun at the ready he ran toward the control room feeling the familiar rush of running into a battle, even if here it was unknown and more than a little surprising.

"What is it? What is going on?" Lance shouted, as he entered the room.

L.T., Lia and her mother were in the only ones in the room but they were arguing with a guard, Lance had had seen him around the Castle since he and Allura had arrived, vigilant at his duty, double and sometimes triple checking things. He'd just assumed he was good at his job but now Lance was wondering if there was something more to it.

"We can't leave, Ramon, we have to figure out how to send the King and Queen back to their time," Queen Ella was explaining.

"They should go into the bunker with the family. If the Arielist have heard they are here they could try to kill them to stop your whole line. We can't take that risk, or any risks. I must insist you leave now."

"I will not, Ramon."

"Arielists?" Lance said.

"There is no time," Ramon snapped. "There was a bomb lobbed into King Coran and Queen Ella's bedroom this morning. Thankfully she was here all night and the King is a early riser, and Ora and I found it before it went off and were able to disengage it. The note attached said they were into the Castle today. They have people inside, I know it, they know about the King and Queen, they know enough about the prophecies. We need too,"

Suddenly there was a huge explosion that rocked the whole castle. Lance moved to the control room computer brought up the outside of the castle on the main computer screen, there was more expolsions and certain vibration that Lance knew all too well. "Shit," he muttered.

"What the hell."

"Who is in charge of these Arielists?" he asked.

"A scientist named Anna, she's been rising in power for some time, she's anarchist, she's from a long line of dissenters of the McClain bloodline being allowed into the Royal line of the throne. Her bloodline can be traced to Allura's Aunt Orla.

"She built a robeast," Lance said grabbing the key for the red lion.

He heard Allura behind him. "What's going, oh my god!"

"Allura get into Blue," he shouted.

"Yes of course," she said.

"Wait! No," Ramon shouted. "You two are too important, you can't risk your lives. All the royal family needs to get underground into the safe bunker. King Coran and Laurie are already there."

Lance spun on Ramon, he looked the guard in the eye and had instinct. He picked up a key. "Take this, call your fellow guard Ora, tell her try yellow or green, whichever she wants, we are going out, that's order."

Allura looked at him eyes wide.

"It can't hurt," Lance muttered and pushing the button to bring up the chutes for the lions. "I mean it Ramon, get the hell into Black lion, now!"

"Get the other guard up here named Ora, I want her in yellow or green ASAP," Lance yelled at L.T. then he took off, knowing Allura would be on his heals.

"Ramon, how is it going?"

"I can't believe this, I'm flying the lion, Black Lion, I?"

"Good, use your all your missiles and go into as close as attack you can on the center of that robeast, right where a human heart would be. Castle control, Lia? Can you scan it, what can you and your mom tell me about this scientist," he asked watching Ramon take to flying Black like a pro; firing at the robeast, the attack Lance ordered making the the scientifically created monster stagger. Then it blew blue-hot fire from its nostrils at Ramon.

"Back up," Allura yelled, coming using one her ice blasters, as well firing her own missiles at the same area, Lance was in there too, fighting the fire with his own fire.

A another female voice joined the fray. "Wow, I'm here as ordered."

"Ora?" Lance asked not believing he'd been right, he checked his screens and the view port windows and saw the green lion come in blasting.

Lia came up on the screen. "The power center is where you guessed it, Lance. It's already down to 80 percent, if all four lions keep attacking there, you'll destroy it."

"Lia, make sure the rest of my men are fighting the ground troops, and I would really like it if you, your brother and mother would."

"Can it Ramon, we don't run from fights, I've got your men doing their jobs and I'm running castle defenses."

"Where is L.T.," Lance asked.

"He decided to try to fly yellow," Lia said. "It didn't work, so he joined the lines."

Ramon growled as he went in for another assault on the robeast.

"Just focus on our fight Ramon, Allura you and I going to the Alpha 2 Attack. Ramon, Orla, keep doing what you are doing, Go."

"Go," they all yelled.

Fifteen minutes later the robeast fell, the lions landed and the few Arielists left attempting to attack the Castle were all falling in surrender. They'd only had the element of surprise and the strong arm of a robeast on their side. And the hope they'd killed the King and/or Queen in their beds. As Lance, Allura, Ramon and Ora walked into the control, Lance saw L.T. being helped in by another castle guard who looked worse for wear than L.T. but L.T. did seem to have a bit of a limp.

"Really, Charlie, I'm fine."

"L.T. I get that but if I can't make you go to the medbay, I have to make sure you get here in one piece. Hey, boss, sweet Black Lion!"

L.T. nodded. "Well, you find us two pilots."

Lance nodded. "I actually want to try three more."

He handed his key Lia. "Try red."

"Red? But wouldn't I be more suited for Blue?"

"No,' Lance said.

Allura looked at him and she nodded, her mind putting things together. "L.T.," she walked over to him and handed him the blue key. "Try blue."

"And you, Charlie is it?"

"Uh, yeah. Try yellow. Go on do it now, seeing more lions in the air won't hurt with closing up and making sure people know this battle is over and done," Lance said. "How many injured?"

Queen Ella answered. "Too many on both sides, but no causalties, we got lucky I think," she watched her two children head out to the lions. "If L.T. gets turned down by another lion, I don't know if I can make him feel..."

She was cut off by a large 'woohoo' on the audio communications and then her son's face on the screen. "Mom, check it out," he shouted as he fly blue lion out of the lake.

"You're not the only one who gets to show off!" Lia cut off his feed and there she was in the air with red lion. "Oh wow, this is awesome."

"This has been the weirdest day," the guard named Charlie said showing up in the air between the two siblings in the yellow lion.

"Queen Ella, I give you your Voltron Force, Ramon in Black, Princess Lia in Red, Prince L.T. in Blue, Ora in Green and Charlie in Yellow."

Ella smiled, but Lance felt her eyes on him and she stepped forward. "How did you know?"

Lance shrugged. "I didn't, it was just an instinct, something to try. I kept thinking L.T. was supposed to fly one of them, Lia too. I don't know more I got to know them more it felt like he was more like Allura and she was more like me. The crisis today just brought up the other three. They stood out, when they needed too, how they needed. I know Ramon just mentioned Ora, but it was how he did it. They are a team. Voltron Force is a team."

"That sounds thought out," Both Ella and Allura said.

Lance shrugged. "Whatever it worked. Can you get us home?" he asked Queen Ella.

Queen Ella sighed. "Lia and I are closer, but not yet. I'm sorry."

L.T. came up running back up. "Thank you," he said running to Lance and Allura. "Thank you, both."

Allura pointed to Lance. "He figured it out, I just followed his line of thought."

"Still, uh, can you tell us how to move a meteor. Lia already knows where we can move it to so it won't endanger anyone else, but I mean, do we just form Voltron and push?"

"Give or take," Lance said, he glanced at Allura. "I should give them a rundown, do you want..."

"I'll leave that to you, your the better pilot, and it's about piloting mostly. I'm going to go see how I can help with the injured and helping out with the damage to the town and the Castle."

Lance nodded, he watched Allura walked away and he blew out a breath. L.T. walked closer to him. "Sorry we can't send you back as easily as we grabbed you, we'll be forever grateful you figured out who should be in the lions."

Lance nodded, thinking he got lucky, it was just his gut talking in the moment while there was danger. "Was that Arielist Anna caught?"

Ramon shook his head and stopped talking into the communicator he was speaking into to his men over the castle. "No, she never gets her hands dirty. She's still out there, but this, this has to be the first of many."

"Good thing we just became the Voltron Force then," Charlie said.

Lia hurried over to them. "Can we get this meteor briefing over with, I really need to help mom with operation send-back."

"Yeah, let's go talk in your Dad's office," Lance said leading the way to what was currently Keith's office off the control room in his present.

~~.~~

Keith grumbled as he carefully attempted to sign his name on a report legibly with his left hand. His right hand in a cast, and he was the lucky one. Hunk had a broken leg, and Pidge had separated his left shoulder and broken his left wrist. They were all a mess, and they all had to fly out there still hurt and battle Drule forces and robeasts that Keith felt they kept defeating by the skin of the teeth by sheer will alone.

He didn't know how they kept winning. It was getting closer and closer every time, it was only a matter of time. It'd been two days now since the last attack, and he felt like Zarkon and Lotor where just laughing at them now, watching them squirm all injured and unnumbered. They knew by now that Lance and Allura were missing.

Lotor had even had the gaul to come over the communications to claim they had sent Allura with Lance as some bodyguard to keep them them apart, to keep him from possessing his love. It'd made Keith sick to think of beautiful, sweet, amazingly empathetic Allura anywhere near that sick perverted Drule Prince. That twisted piece of work, who deserved to be dead.

If they lost in the next battle, Keith sure as hell was going to try to make sure that Lotor went down with him. But Keith didn't want to lose, what he wanted was to find out where Lance and Allura were. Where the hell were they? The teams spirits were completely down and Keith found he was craving Lance's sarcasm, his sense of humor to offset the grim mood they were all in. He kept them light, he kept them from taking the hardness of their life too seriously and kept them falling under. Allura kept them smiling, with her youth, her enthusiasm for being alive and optimistic nature to keep on going, no matter the hardship. Allura always smiled.

He missed her smile. Especially the shy smile she saved for only him, with the rosy blush that came up on her cheeks. He tried not to encourage her crush, he tried not feel anything back for but friendship and a kinship for a teammate but she was beautiful, she was so strong. Keith sighed.

"Missing them," Hunk said from the doorway of his office.

"Yeah," Keith said.

He hobbled in on his crutches. "I don't get where they went, I still don't like and still think we're being dense that it wasn't the Drules."

"It wasn't, they'd have made a mention by now if it was and you heard Lotor the other day."

"Perverted bastard," Hunk muttered. "Don't like this waiting, they know we're two men down, they know we're against the wall and they do this?"

"I know."

Pidge showed up at the door. "I have good news."

Hunk and Keith looked at each other, Keith found he had no idea what could possible be considered good news, unless it was about Lance and Allura but he asked anyway. "What?"

"Sven finally got back to us, he apologizes for being so late, he and Romelle were out of town. He said he is on his way, and that Prince Bandor is coming with him, he's offered to fly Red lion, if red will take him."

Keith nodded. "I hope that works, because we do need all the help we can get."

"I just wish Lance and Allura would come back. Nothing feels right without them here. Everything feels so...gloomy." Pidge muttered, wincing a bit as he moved the wrong way for his healing wrist and sensitive shoulder.

"Coran says they'll return, I don't know what to believe," Keith said, thoughts occurring to him that he didn't want to think about at all. The two of them had disappeared completely, without a trace, there were no leads, they had no way to look for them. There was no hope at all, except the word of the spirit of Allura's father. And Keith had had experience with King Alfor before but Alfor wasn't talking to him this time.

Keith had even tried to talk to Allura with his mind, they'd done it before but all his thoughts, everything he tried to send out to her, nothing came back to him.

He looked at the faces of Hunk and Pidge, the both looked as dejected, fatigued and hurt as him, he didn't want to take away any more hope - if they still had them. "It'll get better. Sven and Bandor will help. I'm sure Red will fly for Bandor, I am. It will work. King Alfor's always been right before, so Allura and Lance, they'll come back."

"Right," Hunk and Pidge said, trying to smile. Keith joined them. None of them really managed.

~~.~~

Coran stood just outside Keith's office, heard the sad conversation between the three members of the Voltron Force, it was going on a full week now that Allura and Lance were gone. It'd been longer than he expected, Sven and Prince Bandor from Pollux were coming to replace them. Coran made his way back down to where his King lay at rest.

He lit the candles around Alfor's last resting place, before he even kneeled Alfor's spirit rose before him.

_You grow impatient Coran._

"My King, we are at war and Lance and Allura both bring much to the team, more than just the lions they pilot."

_Yes, laughter and hope, both of them in their own ways._

"Yes, they are still returning? I thought it would have occurred by now, King Alfor?"

_Time works on its own pace. A mission has been completed and now there are things for them to learn. When that is done the light will open and all that has happened here will erase._

"Erase?" Coran said, shocked and confused. "King Alfor what do you mean?"

_As I said before when they return everything shall return to place, you needn't worry about what occurs in their absence._

Coran watched his King disappear into the ether once again and he straightened back up and snuffed out the candles. He felt more certain that the Princess and the red lion pilot would return, but he was uneasy about what that return would bring, and what it all meant. All he knew was it was best that they return, a team wasn't whole without all its parts, and while Coran was sure Sven would bring energy back to Keith, Hunk and Pidge, he doubted he'd fill the whole left by Lance and Allura.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Lance found Allura in the garden. Her garden. It wasn't all that different, more flowers had been added, there were a few more trees around the edges of the Castle's property lines. The bench where Allura usually sat, that had sat facing her mother's favorite white flowers that used have nothing behind it but a view of the lake, now had a large oak tree that reminded Lance of the one from his old house back home. He sat down next to her on the bench.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

Lance shook his head. "I really don't know. I just knew," he said.

"I mean I think understand with Lia and L.T. we've spent time with them. We got to understand their personalities, their gifts, who they really were past first impressions. But those three guards, you didn't even meet Ora."

"It was an instinct, the Castle was in danger and it...I really don't know," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Everyone kept asking him how he'd put it all together, so quickly, in the heat of battle, they wanted logic. He couldn't give them logic, because he had no clue.

"You really don't do you?" Allura said.

"No," Lance said.

Allura smiled and shook her head. "I guess we shouldn't over complicate it with thinking, Father used to say, when Instinct wins out over fact just go with it."

"Did he?"

"Well, Coran says he did. Coran says he reminds himself of that a lot when dealing with me," Allura giggled.

Lance laughed. "Yeah, well you do give him and Nanny a handful, of course if they just accepted that you are meant to fly with us they'd have much lower blood pressure."

Allura smiled. "It feels right to me. Protecting my people, being a part of the team."

"You fit right in, your the right guy for the job so to speak."

"How long do think it'll take to get us home?"

"I don't know, Queen Ella won't really give me a straight answer, so I think awhile, Allura. I'm sorry."

Allura sighed.

"They flew out already, to move off the meteor, right after my briefing of what they could expect, what they should do. Lia wanted to go and do it, so she could back here and help her mother. I think she feels guilty for grabbing us from the wrong time."

Allura stood up and picked on of the flowers. "I don't think it was her fault, I think it was how it was supposed to go."

Lance frowned. "Really?"

"Seems like it, everything here even if we don't know the full prophecy it worked out the way it should have. Us here out of our time, the five pilots - they became clear to you at a time of need. That could have been the finish, or not. It doesn't matter, really. I couldn't sleep last night, I found my diaries, from our present day to I guess the year I died, twenty little thick pink books."

"Found mine too."

"I looked up August 16th," Allura said.

"Me too."

"I wrote. 'Lance and I have decided to keep quiet, make our own choices and go forward to here. No one here knows anything and they won't. We... well we are going to make our own choices like I said.' My handwriting was, I kept pressing down with my pen like I was deciding not to write something."

"Yeah, I got the sense I didn't write down a lot myself. My entry was pretty much the same. I said something about how what we knew, we would use to avoid, though."

Allura frowned. "Should we really learn more than we already know?"

Lance shrugged. "I told myself our curiosity would get the better of us."

"I do keep staring at them, it's why I came out here to be honest, to get away from them. And the pictures, there are so many, so many years worth, it's hard not to look at them."

"In my old room, there is another portrait, by the same painter. It's just us, the sun has set, the lions are flying across the closest moon."

Allura stood up and she walked a few paces away, when she turned back to him Lance was reminded how young she still was. She'd grown so much in the last two years he'd known her. From a surprisingly sheltered young princess to a brave amazing soldier, a woman. Her eyes were big now and she was looked at him, blushing.

"Keith's never even held my hand," she whispered. "And, yet, everywhere I turn here I see something that tells me I am responsible for a long thriving line of kings and queens, prince and princesses. I..." she trailed off and her blushed deepened. "I don't know why I'm even trying to tell you this, I just can't stop thinking about it. For two years I've been wondering and dreaming about Keith, thinking that it just hasn't been the right time and when it is he'll say something, because I think he likes me too. But now here, all I can think about is time. Where were are, iwhen we are/i, it's all upside down in my head and I'm starting to think maybe I should stop waiting."

Lance nodded.

Her eyes widened. "Oh. But, oh. It's just. I've always been told the man comes to the woman, and states his intentions. It's the Arusian way."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I've heard, Lara told me about that when we met."

Allura made her way back to the bench and sat down, she kept looking at him, Lance looked back and he sighed. "Look, you need to say something, do something to give Keith a stronger hint. He's not good with subtle. With Keith it's either small or big, good or evil, black or white. You need to say I'm done with crushing on you, I'm ready for more in a clear way to him. Otherwise he's going to keep thinking you'll still naive girl with just a cute crush on him."

Allura's features switched instantly from a scared young woman a bit over her head to pissed off. "Cute crush, is that what he thinks, that I'm just stupid little girl with a cute crush on him!"

Lance tried not to laugh but he wasn't succeeding very well, his mouth curved up into a smile and Allura's fist his his shoulder hard. "Ouch. What the hell, never should have taught you how to box."

"Is it!"

"I think so, I think that is why he's holding back."

Allura blushed and groaned, her head falling into her hands.

"Hey," Lance threw his arms around her shoulders. "When we get back, you'll just let him know you aren't just harboring a dumb crush, right. Because you're not, right."

"No," she shook her head. "Definitely not, it not some crush, I really love Keith, so much. He's done so much for me, he's risked so much for me. And for Arus."

"You're welcome," Lance cracked, winking at her.

Allura hit him again. "You know what I mean, I'm not saying you haven't done just as much as him, what you are doing here is amazing. And you've risked you life more than once for me too, it's just..."

"I know," Lance said. "I was just teasing you, Allura." He said, pushing down the stupid rush of jealousy, Keith had saved her life more, he'd gone into some magical plane for her. Though, Lance would have gladly done it too, if Keith hadn't said it first and if Lance thought Allura would have wanted to see him come to her rescue. Neither of them had said much about what had happened between them and Haggar in there, but whatever it had been had been strange.

The next time they'd faced Haggar, they'd both almost trusted her and gotten the team into big trouble. The next thing they knew Zarkon was somehow back, Lotor was more pissed off than ever and Haggar was as well. Which made for some really hard and bad attacks from Doom, Lance had shook it off, he didn't want to think about what might be happening back home.

Sven could come help and fly blue lion but there was no one to fly red, Prince Bandor might offer, but Lance was pretty sure Red wouldn't fly for him. It wouldn't fly for Sven either and blue wouldn't fly for Bandor. No matter how it worked out there was a lion down. Maybe, Lance's brain started thinking, maybe if Bandor flew yellow, Hunk could fly blue, Sven flew Black, and Keith flew Red.

Only they'd never think to try that, or would they? Maybe King Alfor would tell them? That guy had to be still talking to them there, Coran had to be asking him about his daughter's well-being considering the bizarre way he and Allura vanished. It had to have looked like magic, it'd felt like magic at the time.

"You're thinking deeply."

"Just worried about the guys."

Allura nodded. "I'm sure they called in Sven, maybe Prince Bandor."

"Can't fly Red."

"You sound sure."

Lance sighed and stretched out his arms. "I still don't get it."

"I have a question," she said, her cheeks turning pink.

"Shoot."

"Lara, you said she mentioned Arusian Courting traditions to you when you met."

Lance laughed. "Yeah."

"But, huh, Lara is very far from traditional, so uh... I just. You met her a bar didn't you?"

"Are you asking how I met her?"

"Pretty much," Allura blushed. "Keith was with you wasn't he?"

Lance laughed again. "Ah, the real reason."

Allura smiled somewhat apologetically.

"Yeah, I dragged him out, he was driving us all crazy, he was in one of his mega workaholic modes, even you yelled at him to lighten up. That's when I knew he needed to get out and relax a bit. So I just dragged him into down to play some pool, shoot some darts, drink some beer. So we were playing pool with these two girls, who were trying to get us to hit on them, without hitting on us first. Which is usually the norm, it's an interesting game the women of your towns play Allura. Flirt with me so I can say I didn't flirt with you first, but I don't know neither one of them were all that interesting but they had the table and we wanted the table. So, we were out to win the table. So we were just polite to them."

"How would you do that? Not flirt to get a guy to flirt?"

"You flirt, but you don't flirt. It's body language mostly, sip out your straw suggestively, angle your body so if your curves or your breasts are assets they guy's eyes are drawn to them. Tell them you like to dance, that song is pretty. What your favorite drink is, so they might go get it. That you like the movie that is about to start in the movie theatre. Or the band playing in the bar around the corner - all so the guy asks you to go there with them. Then we really make the first move."

Allura screwed up her face in disgust. "That just sounds manipulative and stupid."

"It is, but girls do it on Earth too. It's more a way of life here, except for a few exceptions. The girls who know they are worth something and won't make an idiot out themselves and wait for the guy to ask anyway. Because they believe in the tradition. Or, girls like Lara."

"What happened?"

"We won the table, because we won the game and we didn't raise to any of their, oh we ran out of drinks bait."

So they stood around for bit not knowing what to do, then the door opened, it was winter so it brought in this major draft. I looked up to yell shut the door because it felt like it was open forever and I spotted Lara, walking in with two other girls, laughing, her green eyes scanning the bar. The two girls near me and Keith sort ran to her and started talking a mile a minute, pointing to us, saying Voltron Force... They didn't offer to buy us anything," Lance laughed. "The music was off for a bit so we heard everything, Keith even started laughing."

Lara stalked up to us and looked at the two of us. She then put her hands on her hips and looked right at Keith. "You beat my two friends fair and square for this table, Commander Kogane?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then you are buying them each a drink, it's at least the gentlemanly thing to do, don't you think."

Lance shook his head before continuing the story for Allura. "Keith got this look on his face, that was priceless as he glanced over at the two girls. I mean they were pretty, they were nice enough but they were so stupid. Total airheads, all they had talked about was clothes and shopping, when they weren't asking us how we stayed in shape and what it was like to be such handsome single eligible bachelor. They didn't even ask about the Lions once? They usually at least ask about the Lions, so we have something to add to the conversation, when they are those types of girls."

Allura shook her head. "That's all they talked about, why would anyone only talk about that?"

"Allura, you're more intelligent than the average woman, it's a fact. Anyway so Keith's face is all deer in headlights that his woman with her hands on his hip is someone going to 'noble' him into having drinks with the two airheads. Because she said the magic word you know, it's the gentlemanly thing to do, she reminded him he's a representive of the Castle, we protect the planet we should've been more polite, besides saying uh, huh, yes and no, to their inane questions, and not laughing in their faces at their attempts to get with us. So, I realize I have to step in or he's going to know stick himself with the airheads and possible me too, So I say: Look, Lady, it isn't going to happen, you look like you have a brain in your head, so you must know you two girlfriends over there, don't. We're here to relax it'd be too much work to hand out with them and not fall asleep of boredom. Which is why we didn't play along with the little flirting game."

"What did Lara say, I mean if they were friends she probably got mad? Right?"

"Not exactly," Lance said. "She turned around and I felt pinned to the wall but her eyes, she really has amazing eyes. She was gorgeous, definitely the hottest girl in the bar. She looked at me for a full minute before saying anything. Then she sighed: It's not their fault: Their mothers have filled their heads with idiocy. Women aren't supposed to approach men, and they aren't supposed to do anything but cook, sew, and be pretty. It's demeaning, ridiculous and only a handful of us feel that its time to break the mode. I do truly hope since the Princess flies with you men that she had least does have a brain under that shiny tiara and pink dress of hers. Because Lord knows her education probably has been worse on the medieval crap ass women should be pretty and never tell a man she's interested in them bullcrap. Fine, I'll buy them two drinks and tell you two ponied up but you can't drink them with you since you want to keep the table. They'll get enough mileage out of that anyway, you two being the top two guys of the Voltron Force. You," Lance paused to chuckled.

"What?" Allura said.

"She spun to face Keith and he literally jumped. It was classic. Ribbed him about it for a week at least. Maybe more. Anyway she spun to face him, he jumped, didn't phase her and she said. "You are buying me a drink, and him a drink, and then I'm going to the concert in the bar around the corner with him, I think you can find you own way home, right?"

"She hadn't even asked you yet?"

"She's very confident. Plus, she knew I'd say yes. Also, that way she walked to the bar with him and could make it look like he paid for her friends drinks, and she paid for ours, which she didn't mind doing at all. Everyone knows Lara doesn't follow the rules. I think Keith was just glad she didn't pick him to want to date."

Allura made a face. "Why I mean Lara's gorgeous."

"He's not really into crazy women who don't want a commitment and just want you for your body."

"Oh. So he wants commitment."

"Of course he wants a commitment, Allura. He wants a family... I think it's about losing his parents when he was so young."

Allura's face went both sad and knowing. "I think I know how he feels."

"Why you two will be a good match," Lance said, yawning. "Man, I am tired."

"Me too, I really just can't sleep in that room."

"Why don't you sleep in Keith's room tonight."

Allura shook her head. "I don't think I can sleep there either, that plaque is there with that life with whoever that woman is..." she trailed off. "Ugh, I don't like how jealousy makes me feel, it's so angry and mean."

"It's human."

"I guess."

Lance wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Okay, uh, sleep in my room, the couch is really comfortable, and I'll sleep in Keith's room. Or we can check out Hunk or Pidge's rooms."

Allura laughed. "Actually, I'd like to see their rooms but not to sleep in. Just see how the museum tour would go," she said. "Is that weird, that I'm curious about that want to ignore anything about you, me and Keith?"

"No. I just want us to get back, I..."

"You're worried about Doom."

"The hadn't attacked in a few days, we were due for something to happen. Some break in the monotony of training and not hearing anything. It was going to be distress call that was real or a trap. A robeast. We were just due."

Allura shivered next to him. "Are you cold or did I just scare you?"

"Both?"

"Do you want to go inside?"

Allura shook her head. "Not yet,"

Lance shrugged off his coat and Allura shrugged it on, then he wrapped his arm around her shoulders again and she let her head fall against his. "Why doesn't Lara want a commitment with you?"

"Because no woman as smart as her would." Lance was thrown by the question but he ignored that and just laughed it off.

Allura didn't laugh with him, however and her head shook against his shoulder but she didn't say anything else. They fell into a nice companionable silence.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

_I thought Keith was going to rip my heart right out of my chest. I mean I know he's capable of doing it. I can't really blame the guy, not really, I mean he gets woken up on the one day he lets himself sleep in at the crack of down because Allura's not in her room. Coran and Nanny overreacting - and_

_Well it's not good that his first thought was she was with me, I guess. But then he opens my door and finds us in my bed. Which looks bad, it always looks bad. It never looks good. Allura's his girlfriend, if you can call what they do dating, giving how Keith lets Coran set all the rules for it, but Allura usually seems happy. Except when she's not._

_Which you know is why she was with me in the middle of the night, crying and not talking about it. She wouldn't talk about the fucking stupid ball. She knew she didn't want to hear what I thought about it, she knew because if she heard what I had to say about it she'd get more upset._

_That is what galls me about this. If she was dating me there would be no pressure on her at all to dance with any of those damn princes invited to the damn thing. No way. Political and strategic concerns aside there is no reason for to have to be nice to the princes from the planets invited. Keith's dating her, yeah he's agreed to go slow and play by whatever the hell Coran's rules are. But I say fuck that, Allura doesn't want some dumbass prince. I don't know why Allura didn't just tell Keith she doesn't agree, yet she agreed to agree with Coran along with Keith and now she won't take it back._

_So here I am._

_Holding her all night, holding my tongue and cancelling a date with Lara - which thrilled Lara, because she thinks I'm coming on too strong lately which I totally am. But damn if - if that time ahead didn't make it kind of clear to me I like the idea of a family._

_So Allura fell asleep and so did I. So what if my covers were over the both us. Allura's in her damn pajamas, a mean a t-shirt and pair a yoga pants is not naked, and I was wearing a pair of sweats. Again not naked._

_Fine Allura's a snuggler._

_It's kind of a known fact, known it for awhile. Maybe Keith doesn't. But I wouldn't rub the knowledge in his face._

_What I want to do is punch his face. Because he was why she was in my room crying. Which I'm not allowed to tell him. Not that she said that but it's a given._

_She and I, we have a million secrets what's one more._

_He opened the door saw us, turned on my light, which woke me up. So, I sit up a bit, Allura drooling on my chest, eyes focusing on the fury that is a pissed off boyfriend. He wanted to kill me, I'm pretty sure._

_He just bit out. "Wake her up and send her to her room." And me, being me just couldn't let it lie. No. No I had to defend her. What the fuck is wrong with me. "Why is she grounded?"_

_Keith looked at me like I had two heads. "She should be here, do you know how this looks?"_

_"Of course I know how this looks. And we both know that isn't what it is. Why don't you wake her and tell her she's grounded."_

_Keith shook his head. "I have to tell Coran I found her and that she was save and not to worry. And then come up with a reason why she would do this?"_

_"Uh, how about asking why she did this, instead of making up a reason for it."_

_Keith sighed._

_Then I got really angry. "Oh because you know the real reason and you just don't want to deal with it, is that it?"_

_"What did she say?"_

_"Nothing, Keith. She just cried, until I finally got her laughing then we fell asleep watching a movie."_

_"What is it you think I should do different then? This is am important Ball for Arus. It's vital to its standing, if it has a better chance if the planets believe there is a chance of a marriage alliance..."_

_"Oh yeah, then we must lie to them all about her eligibility and whore her out," I snapped._

_Keith went white, stomped closer to the bed called me a son of a bitch and I don't know what else it was all in Japanese, then he looked down at her. "It's not that at all it's for her people, she agreed to this anyway. Why is she so angry now?"_

_I rolled my eyes. "Get out of my room, I'll wake her up," the fact was I knew she was already awake, I'd felt her shift during him and me arguing, I mean no one is that much of a deep sleeper. Keith had no clue though and she didn't want him too._

_He left, looking pissed and confused. It's a look I see him wearing a lot lately, usually about how often Allura runs to me about something. It's complicated._

_Its all the fucking secrets and craziness and we just...man sometimes we are the only ones who make sense to each other._

_So Self, Lance sitting in the future reading this, I remember what you are thinking? What the hell? Keith wouldn't do that to the princess, he wouldn't put her through that. Yeah. You'll see. It will happen. I didn't write down everything that happened that night with Allura either. You'll see. That night. It's always complicated._

_Like when Allura opened those big blue eyes of hers when Keith closed the door. _

Lance turned the page but there was nothing, nothing but ripped out pages until an entry months later. He glanced at the entry and read the first sentence, _Allura beat up Lara tonight._ He slammed the book shut, he didn't want to know, he knew too much, he knew way too much. He'd read too much for one night.

It didn't matter that he couldn't sleep. It didn't matter that they were still stuck in the future and that it was hard to sleep under a picture of him staring deeply, lovingly and happily into Allura's eyes.

He got up and started pacing the room, he rubbed his eyes, then he went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. He'd never should have picked up that journal and started to read. It was insane. It was dumb as hell. From what he gathered, Allura and Keith started dating but with some bizarre rules from Coran that meant Keith was courting Allura at the slowest pace known to mankind. At least from what Lance could tell from what he read.

Then something would happen that either he or she would recognize because they learned about it in the future. And they'd share a look, and talk in a weird code, or just in general people would keep accusing them of being closer than they were normally.

Lance was beginning to wonder if he should try to avoid her all together when they got back, but he couldn't see that as possible because he liked talking to her. They'd gotten into the habit now, they'd been stuck in the future for a freaking month now.

Which was why he kept opening that damn journal. And it was why he was going to recognize battles when they happened, see signs he shouldn't. He been on tours of the Castle out of boredom, and learned about battles he'd taken part in that hadn't happened yet. He now knew what to do look for, for when they got the back. He knew the exact date and time of a massacre from Doom that was going to nearly destroy a whole village in northern Arus. Both he and Allura knew, they knew the signs leading up the attack, they knew it all.

They both had silently looked at each other during that tour and vowed to make sure that Voltron got there earlier, faster and stopped such awful destruction.

He knew the details of every painting painted of him and Allura. Of their children. He knew the photographs in his office, in the bedroom, the ones around the castle. And he'd seen the videos of the twins, Alfor, Al is what they called him, and Liona. He saw their first steps, their first words. And he knew when he read the words in his own journal he hadn't written yet about him wanting a family, it was true.

It just wouldn't be with Allura. Because she wanted Keith.

And he kept telling himself that it bother him, because she was just his friend anyway. Even if she looked at him sometimes, blushed and ducked away, usually after he found her reading her own diaries. Or with Laurie in the room with the prophecies.

Allura kept trying to stay away from the prophecies, but they were such a part of who she was as the Princess of Arus, who her father had been as a man and a King. They were part of Arusian Faith and Belief, and Voltron. Allura couldn't bring herself to stay away. She told him she tried to stay away from anything mentioning her, but they weren't organized, that was what Laurie and the others were trying to accomplish, and she'd just keep stumbling onto things about them.

They never shared the things they found out. Lance figured they knew it would happen eventually anyway.

~~.~~

Allura sipped from the glass of water that was always near by when she was in the prophecy room, helping Laurie with her project. It both scared and amazed Allura what she was seeing in the future for the Voltron Force Lance had somehow put together from his instincts. The new threat was coming soon, from another place in the galaxy, far away but they'd conquered there and they thought they could conquer here.

Voltron was not going to allow it, and they were even going to free the oppressed in the unknown space, finding new allies and new strengths. Allura found she could spend hours in the prophecies, as long as they were far future prophecies.

And didn't show her and Lance kissing. Why was she always finding the pictures of them kissing? Allura took in a deep breathe as she pulled the picture closer to herself, looking at all the details to try to form a when to go with the action.

The bench, the lake, this was out in her garden by the lake, they were young it wasn't to far from now, months, or a year, or two. Nothing either one of them had read had ever given them an exact time or date for when they fell in love, or realized they were in love, or when they felt their anniversary was...and they never asked. And no one in the castle gave away any information, except for King Lance. Some of the servants just could not call him Lance, without the King. Allura found it was rather amusing to see Lance's face when it happened, because he blushed, embarrassed to be given such an honor.

It amused and irked her, because deep down she couldn't come up with a reason why he shouldn't be bestowed such an honor. He was an amazing man, sure he spoke bluntly and he wasn't always tactful, but he was brave and he cared. Cared a lot more than one sometimes saw when they first looked, she was getting that more and more each day.

He hid behind a lazy attitude that wasn't lazy at all, she'd been watching all month, once they'd solved the Voltron pilot problem. Sure he'd slept in later than Keith would let them, but he still ran everyday, went into the gym and then she and he took out their lions and practiced.

In fact, she'd noticed that the other Voltron force had been copying their practice the last three weeks, and Lance was being a major hardass on her, she'd wanted cry and give up a few times. But she wouldn't admit it to him, mostly because she knew why he was doing it. They'd seen all those upcoming battles they had to face. The team was going to have to be at their best. She'd started joining him for the runs and the gym, so he'd asked her if she wanted to continue with her martial arts training without Keith and she nodded. It was so much easier without Keith's eyes on her, she was always so worried about being perfect for Keith, she found herself learning ten times faster with Lance.

She looked back at the sketch of the kissing. Then she turned it over. It was written prose, like most of the prophecies on her and Lance, thank goodness, she thought again.

_I see a huge fight, verbal, words tossed around, things said it's between Princess of Blue, Keith of Black and Prince of Red, it's about boundaries, lines and respect. I don't know if the kiss happens before or after the argument. There is grief in Prince of Red's heart, throughout it all, unknown origin. Princess of Blue wants to be there for him. Keith of Black cannot see his heart, it's not what I'm meant to see, I see the love story of the Princess and her Prince... There is going to be a trip, to twin planet. Something will happen there. I think the kiss may happen before the fight. Seer Altea_

Allura frowned, did that mean that she and Lance would kiss and Keith would see it. Tears hit her out of the blue, guilt at being unfaithful even before she was, before she even could be hitting her. She wiped at her eyes trying to stop it, she didn't understand it. The last kissing portrait she saw she understood better, she and Lance been through Drule slavery, almost dying, maybe something happened and they kissed. But that wouldn't matter, it would be adrenaline. Right?

She kept trying to tell herself that.

Maybe a kiss with Lance was just a kiss, a friendship thing?

Allura rolled up the prophecy and stuck into her back pocket. She got up and went to go find Lance, she needed to voice some of this stuff just to think it out. He had a way of making some sense of all this craziness. She want to the garden, where the kiss would happen that Keith would see. A tree blocked the view of the lake now, a tree Allura had learned was from Lance's home state. It explained why it was here now, in this future? Allura kind of loved this future, she prayed what when she returned and she married Keith instead that she didn't change it too much, that things would be relatively the same.

Or maybe it would stay alive in an alternate timeline, Allura thought, thinking about Pidge's science-fantasy books that she'd borrowed a few months ago and enjoyed. That would be good, this is what she would pray for. She turned to go look elsewhere for Lance and saw him walking toward her, he looked upset about something himself. He must have found out something today too.

"Hey," Allura said.

"Hey," he said. "You first."

"Is it normal to feel guilt for something you haven't done yet?"

"Depends, how bad is the thing you found out you're going to do?"

"Something happens with us and Keith sees it, I think, if I'm reading it right. It's prophecy they are tricky to read."

"Yeah, it's normal you feel guilty. We uh, I read something in my journal about us pissing him off."

"Oh," Allura sighed. "So, um are there, I mean you kiss a lot?" Allura asked knowing he was going to laugh that Lance laugh at her.

Chuckling Lance sat down on the bench and looked up at her. "I've had a few, yeah," he said.

"I just meant. I mean are their kisses that are just you know between great friends?" she asked sitting down next to him like she always did when they met out here.

"Yeah, sure."

Allura nodded, pulled out the prophecy and showed him the picture of them kissing. "Do they look like that?" she shoved it in his face.

Lance took the old paper carefully in his hands. "Hey, be careful with that, you're the one that told me these things are precious, even if this one is about us."

"Sorry, I'm just...well?" she asked, looking at the picture again. They were standing in front of the bench. She thought she looked taller, so she must be on her tip toes, her hands around his neck, his hands are on her hips and their bodies are so close. She blushes realizing she was really hoping for a miracle. "Never mind," she muttered.

"Uh, no that isn't just a friend kiss," Lance said at the same time. "Crap, why'd you have to me about this?"

"Sorry, I was just..."

"It won't happen, okay. We just won't kiss, there a date on this?"

"No, not yet, I mean I might be able to date it back at the prophecy room. There is an upcoming trip mentioned to Pollux. Twin Planet, that is what they call Pollux."

"Okay, so we won't kiss before any trip to Pollux. Case closed." Lance put his arm around her. "Good plan?"

Allura snuggled into him. "Okay," she yawned.

He yawned right after her. "Don't do that, it's hard to sleep here."

"I know," she whispered.

They heard running footsteps coming toward them, suddenly, and both sat up straighter and Lia was in front of them smiling. "We did it. My mom and me, we can send you home. Now if you want."

"Yes!" They both yelled jumping up to their feet and hugging each other and then Lia. "Send us home!"


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you Kat for letting me know I messed up by reposting Chapter 8 again. Sorry everybody. Here is the correct chapter :-)

~~.~~

Chapter Ten

Saying goodbye wasn't something that came easily to Allura. She'd lost her parents without a chance at goodbyes, she'd seen Keith, Lance, Hunk and Pidge, tearfully watch Sven leave for Ebb to heal without uttering a word that sounded like goodbye to their friend, their colleague. She'd never said to goodbye to anyone that matter to her in her life, they'd either been torn away from her forever, or they stayed.

She was leaving. She stood in the room, the Lance and Allura of the future's marital bedroom, it had a nursery adjacent to it, it'd been where Allura had ended up sleeping, on a tiny twin bed meant for a child. Because the little lambs and the pale pastel walls had been easier to take in than photographs of a marriage and a bed a husband and wife used. To make babies. Four of them. She knew their names. Liona and Alfor, first born and twins, then Thea and Roma.

One son, three girls and it'd led to this future where their was a King Coran, one of many Coran's born of the bloodline started by her and Lance. He had children named for her and Lance, one named Lia a pet name coined from the name Liona Allura had learned from her time in the future. She'd tried to keep them all at armslength and she'd succeeded mostly, except with Laurie.

With the future's Princess Allura's. Nearly eight years older than herself, Laurie had been easy to speak with, easy to work with and that had been Allura's downfall. She'd wanted to keep busy and the scrolls, they had called to her. They were part of her legacy, something her father had wanted to find himself, had looked for and found a few of himself. He spoke of them reverently, he believed in them. They were a part of Arusian faith and Allura had always believed in them. She had faith in them. They had brought the Voltron Force to her. Keith to her.

Keith was why she wasn't supposed to care about them, about King Coran and his intelligent and bright wife Ella. About intuitive and sarcastic L.T. who was always ready to help you out and since he'd found out he could fly blue lion had been walking around the Castle with the goofiest most contagious grin on his face. Or care about little Lia with her vivacious spirit, rapid intelligence and witty banter.

Or earthy, wise and spiritual Laurie, who followed the Faith. Who believed in the Prophecies and believed her way of being part of the Voltron Force was to give them as much guidance as she could by finding and interpreting as many of the prophecies about them she could.

It'd been hard helping her, it seemed no matter how hard she tried, Allura kept being the one to find the prophecies that were about her and Lance, alone. She tried not too, she hoped not too, there were so many it seemed insane that she kept finding them. When it got to be too much, Laurie would just hold her hand and listen Allura rant about how a person needed to have their own choices.

Laurie never once seemed to take it personally that Allura didn't have any intention of marrying Lance. It would mean her entire bloodline, her entire family would never be...

Allura felt guilty and Allura was afraid. She stared out the window at Arus, a beautiful peaceful, whole planet, with villages and cities. It was whole and thriving, it didn't have just under 100,000 people on it's surface. There were over a million Arusians on the planet now. It was alive again, it was once again at the center of scientific and medical advancements. It had an army that was a force to be reckoned with, and once again it had Voltron.

It saddened her to know that in a few years it would be at war again, did it never stop. It saddened her to know that there was religious terrorists groups out there against the Royal Line because of a non-royal bloodline that started over 300 years ago. It'd be the same if she married Keith, that would be the same...

Arus would still find this golden age then, she could rationalize it. She could hope for it. She could once again tell herself maybe this timeline would stay intact as an alternate universe, she'd been thinking that more and more. It was weird to love something such a huge part of her didn't want to see happen.

The door to the bedroom opened, Lance walked into the room a few paces, she turned just enough to look at him, not quite wanting to leave the view of the window yet.

"You're going to miss the view?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"So much," Allura admitted, tears rolling down her eyes. "I think I'm going to miss them too, a bit."

Lance shoved his hands into his pockets, face falling into a serious expression for a few seconds. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Allura turned back to the view and took it in for a few more moments, then she took a deep breath, steeled her spine and turned around. She met Lance's eyes and smiled. "I'm ready. I want to go home."

"Me too," Lance said.

They fell into step next to each other in the hallway. "I don't know how to say goodbye," Allura admitted to him as they got closer to the control room.

"It's a hard word sometimes, not sure how to say it myself. Especially to L.T. and Lia. Really like those two."

"I feel that way about Laurie, she was so kind and I kept going on and on about how I don't feel like my future could be you."

Lance laughed. "I don't either, but you know I don't think they've taken it personally."

"I wonder how?"

"Beats me," Lance said. "I would."

"I think I would too."

They reached the control room, Lance chuckled and looked at her. "Here we are again, the control room door."

Allura laughed. "Yep, here we go."

Lance opened the door and they walked inside, inside the room stood L.T., Laurie and Lia, there parents were no where to be seen. Allura felt a sense of relief, this was better, this would make it less dragged out and easier to say goodbye. Maybe.

"I can handle sending you back alone, now that we figured out the math, so we asked mom and dad to say goodbye alone," Lia said.

"The other members of the team, wanted me to tell you, thank you for helping us get Voltron back for Arus. We aren't sure how we lost him, but the planet needs him, so thank you." L.T. said.

Lance shrugged. "It was luck."

Laurie stepped forward, she held a scroll in her hand. "I'm not sure you'll like hearing this, but it wasn't luck," she handed the scroll to Allura. "I found this a week ago. I wasn't sure if I should tell you or not, but we discussed it. Our parents discussed it. We feel, that you should take this scroll back with you. Just in case the future changes."

Allura took the scroll, it had a series of pictures, of men in crowns. As she scanned it she recognized her father and then after him, their was Lance, but then she scanned the pictures again. "There are missing Kings?"

"Yes. Read it," Laurie said.

Allura looked at the scroll, sighed and cleared her throat to read aloud. "True Kings of Arus are few, but they will always steer Arus true. They will know who belongs within Warrior Voltron. Who best fits Black, Red, Green, Blue and Yellow. True Kings of Arus will see who they are and where they go. The gift will hit when chaos reigns and never leave their hearts. They will know who the Lions will take and will use it always for Arus's sake," Allura finished and shook her head. "Seer Quintus really needed to be told he was a bad poet," she added at the end, not wanting to look at Lance, not wanting to think about what this prophecy meant.

"I don't want to get... I'm not getting it on purpose," Lance stuttered out.

Allura looked up then and smiled at him, an apologetic smile. "I guess it makes things clearer for all of you."

Laurie nodded, they all did and Laurie looked between them. "We understand, somewhat that you both have your own free will, you both only love each other as friends, best friends I think having watched the two of you together these five weeks. We took you out of the wrong place and time. We do hope we didn't screw things up too much, or make you fight the future too hard. Or, think you don't have choice in the matter."

"It's just I really love..."

"Keith Kogane," the three of them said in unison. "We've heard," L.T. added and he smiled. "He was a great man, I've studied his martial art techniques my entire life, since I was three. Read all his books on the subject and on Voltron. Everything he wrote on securing this Castle. He's a Hero, we celebrate Keith Kogane day every year to this day and we always will, Allura."

Allura smiled, wondering why they hadn't mentioned this to her before. "That's great."

Lance shook his head at her. "Like they'd be doing anything less, Allura, it's Keith we are talking about. Look, if we do change the future and he ends up the King, it's not going to hurt anything guys. Arus will be in safe hands."

Lia stepped forward then. "I know you think it's crazy and you do and you did. It was in your Biography and your autobiography and all the books about you and Allura. Even in all the books you wrote on piloting the lions, and you wrote the definitive one on each lion. Better even then one the original pilots wrote on each one. It's all in them. You always thought the planet was crazy for deciding that you should be called King. But the facts are facts and you were the best King we had for - well maybe I'm biased but i think Daddy is only King to top you. History says that only one who may have topped you was King Alfor but since he was cut down by Zarkon so early in his term that its impossible to tell. And it didn't matter that you were King during mostly war and dissension you and Allura held Arus together. Plus you ruled rather equilaterally. It was an amazing time in history and it was because of crazy non-traditional decisions you made to bring Arus into the future to make sure it'd be strong and hold it's own against it's enemies."

"Crazy," Lance muttered.

Lia shrugged. "And, by the way, we celebrate both of your birthdays for a full month."

Allura's eyes widened. "Isn't that a bit of an overkill?"

"Not given what the two of you accomplish for Arus, in your lifetimes."

"Whatever it was we didn't do it alone," Lance said.

L.T. grabbed Lia's shoulder. "Stop freaking them out. Whatever choices you two make when you get back, we just wanted you both to know, we are thankful and we don't regret pulling you out of your time and meeting you. Even if you might wish otherwise. You saved us, Arus, and once again we owe you two our lives."

Allura watched Lance duck his head, to avoid looking at the three of them directly. Allura focused on a point behind Laurie's head, her blonde her staying just in Allura's periphery.

"Thank you," they both managed to get out, both of their voices sounding cracked and higher than usual.

"So, how do we do this," Lance asked.

Lia turned and went to the computer. "Laurie, L.T. get back or you'll get caught in it."

Laurie and L.T. moved so they were against the wall on the other side of the room. Allura stepped closer to Lance, Lance was closer to her already, and she grabbed his hand. He squeezed her hand reassuringly and held on tight.

Allura held her breath. Lia was typing furiously away and a ball of light appeared in front of them. A white-bright light and Allura remembered the light she and Lance had walked into without a thought when they'd heard these three in their minds begging them for help. She let out a breath and then pulled in another one. Lance next to her didn't seem to be breathing at all, she squeezed his hand and he inhaled sharply before looking at her. She nodded to him to say, it'd be okay. It had to be. He nodded back that it would be.

"When I say now, walk into it. You should return a few minutes or so after you left. No one will know you even left."

As the light got brighter it was harder and harder for Allura to keep her eyes open, she held on tighter to Lance, to know he was there. The room had become nothing but the light and without people in her head, needing her, pleading for her to save them it scared her in a way it hadn't the first time.

It was amazing what running into the line of fire in the name of doing something good could do to you, cloud your fear, numb you to the beating of your heart in your ears, the sweating on your palms. Her and Lance's hands were stuck together now, but they were both sweating, she felt like her heartbeat was running down her arm into his hand. Was his beating so loud?

"Now!"

Lia's voice startled Allura. She jumped in her skin, she'd forgotten her and Lance weren't alone with the light. They stepped forward in unison and the light got even brighter because they were in the middle of it. White light washed over them, Allura tried to remember to breathe, her eyes were shut tight, yet she was still seeing brightness but as quickly as it took to inhale once it was gone.

It was dark, but her eyes were out of focus, with spots from the light and fighting against the darkness. Lance's hand tightened on hers and she tightened back.

"I can't see," he muttered.

"Me either."

Allura blinked and fought for focus, standing still for a long moment. She didn't know how long until finally where she was started to come into focus. It was the control room, but not the one of the future. It was empty, it was dark but not pitch dark, there was a low light, and the lights from the consoles. She looked toward Lance just as he looked toward her, they let go each other's hand and ran to the computer, Lance hit a few keystrokes and a computer screen came up from standby and they saw the date and time in clear black against a white screen.

August 16, 2000, 2:22 am.

"Seven minutes," Lance laughed. "We were only gone seven minutes."

Allura closed her eyes to take in the moment, going to the future, seeing everything she saw, doing the things she did there, Lance doing the things he did there. The prophecy she had tucked in her jeans pocket. Jeans pocket?

"Oh, our clothes?" she said.

Lance looked down at the jeans he was wearing, the red t-shirt and black leather jacket. "Uh, yeah, they are a bit different fabric wise, aren't they. I'll swing by room later and then burn them all at some point. What do you think we should do with that?"

Allura took the prophecy in her hand. "I don't know. It's Arusian history, it's part of our faith. I should put it with the scrolls my father has, I just have to get Coran to tell me where they are. He used to refuse too, but I think he might now. I haven't asked in awhile."

Lance nodded. "Come on, I'll walk you back to your room."

Allura nodded. "What if we run into a guard or something?"

"We'll make something up," Lance said. "Late night practice drill."

"Okay," Allura rolled her eyes. "So, we aren't going to mention this to anyone? Right?"

"No. They wouldn't believe us, Allura."

"That's for sure. And we came back so soon, it's like nothing happened."

"Maybe we can even forget it did," Lance said, running his hands through his hair.

Allura glanced at him and she felt the same sense of wanting to forget, what she knew, what she learned. The only thing she didn't want to forget was the vision of a peaceful beautiful whole, thriving Arus. "Do you think we could?"

"It felt like a dream the whole time, a really vivid, surreal dream but a dream."

"Yeah, it did. But..."

"I know," Lance said as they stopped in front of her door. "So, here you go. Your room. Home sweet home. Finally, might get a good nights sleep."

Allura nodded. "That would be fantastic, it's going to be great to be in my own bed again."

"Yeah, me too. Plus, you know their is a hot red head waiting in mine."

Allura shook her head, "I'll see you at breakfast."

"Yep," Lance kissed her cheek. "Sweet dreams."

Allura stepped inside her bedroom and took in the familiar walls, her bedspread, the pictures of her parents and her teammates, her eyes falling on the picture of Keith she kept on the table closest to her bed. She walked over to the table and picked it up. "I missed you, I can't wait to see you in the morning, Keith."


	11. Part 2 Making Choices,  Chapter 11

Part Two Making Choices

Chapter Eleven

Keith stopped short, spotting Allura already sitting at the table when he came in from his run. "You're up early?" he said.

She sat up straighter, he thought for a minute she was going to bounce right out of her chair but she didn't. She gave a bright sunny smile that lit up her entire face and made his own mouth curve up.

"It's such a beautiful day, Keith, I didn't want to waste a second. Good morning!"

"Good morning," he said sliding into the chair next to her, just as Nanny walked into the room with a full pot of coffee and a tray of muffins.

"Ah, you're back from your run, the others should start stumbling in soon. I'm glad to see, Princess Allura, that you have seen the benefit of a more early rising."

"Yes, Nanny," Allura said, smiling brightly at Nanny too. "I love your muffins, so much," she said grabbing one. "Have I told you that lately?"

Nanny stopped short, smiled and got uncharacteristically quiet. "Not lately, thank you, Princess."

"You're welcome."

"Eggs and bacon will be out in about twenty minutes, lets hope the others don't miss them."

Keith poured himself some coffee, took a muffin and watched in amusement as Allura scarfed hers down like a woman who hadn't seen food in months. "You look like you just got out a Zarkon slave cell," he said.

Allura looked at him, eyes wide, her cheeks turned the shade of pink of the dress she was wearing, and she swallowed the massive amount of muffin she had in her mouth. "I just...really love Nanny's muffins."

"Did someone say Nanny's muffins," Hunk said, walking into the room, followed by Pidge. "Oh yeah, that is just what I need to start my day. Three or five of those. She making eggs and bacon yet?"

"She is," Keith laughed as Hunk grabbed a bunch of muffins. He looked back at Allura. "Okay, Princess, he's acting like he just got out of a jail cell."

Allura laughed, and kept smiling at him the big bright smile, that made him smile back, but then they both looked up when she heard another female voice, coming towards the little room, they always ate their breakfast in.

"Lance, I can just walk..."

"Just come and eat breakfast with us, what's the deal."

"Oh, I don't know the Princess of planet is in there," Lara Wyeth snapped.

Keith shook his head, Lance's dates were sleeping over now, not good, he'd have to have a talk with him about that. He started to stand up to go out the door where they were still arguing in hushed tones when he realized Allura was already across the room. He sat back down.

"OH MY GODDESS!" He heard Lara scream, and he met Hunk and Pidge's eyes. There was some more harsh whispers, Keith totally couldn't make out and then Allura's voice, serene and firm.

"Lara, please come in and have breakfast with us, any friend of Lance's is a friend of mine."

"See, I told you she wouldn't mind."

"Like you speak for the Princess, seriously, Lance."

"In this instance, he is correct, please? It will be nice to have someone female to talk to."

"Yeah, Lara, save her from the manly talk."

"Fine, I really could use some coffee, I can't believe I slept through the whole night, I'm never drinking that much of that wine again."

As Lara finally gave in, Keith watched as they all walked in, Allura caught his gaze and smiled again, he smiled back and before he knew it she was back in her seat next to him. Lance slipped in next to her on the other side and Lara, too a seat next to Pidge across from Lance - where Lance usually sat.

"Ooh, Nanny's muffins," Lance said, spotting the plate and sounding like someone who'd just seen a treat that had been hidden from him for months.

Keith rolled his eyes. "You'd think we didn't have them every single morning."

Lance already had half a muffin in his mouth, but he gave Keith a shrug anyway and then with his mouth way too full managed to say. "I'm hungry."

"And you don't have a hangover, what is that?" Lara whined, sipping her coffee.

"McClain metabolism, sweetheart," he said, winking at Lara.

Allura laughed and nudged him in the side. "Could you move the muffin plate back into the middle, will you, some of the rest of us, are hungry too," she said, and Keith couldn't see the look she gave Lance, but the look he gave back one of understanding that seemed odd in the circumstances. Keith leaned forward when the plate went down and grabbed himself a muffin before they disappeared on him completely. The way everyone was acting, it might the day before muffins ceased to exist.

Allura took two and Keith looked at her. "Two?" she normally only ate one muffin and drank two cups of tea which she would have when Nanny came out of the kitchen and sat down with them. Oh, Keith sighed. "Lance, we need to get another chair, for Nanny?"

"Sit, eat, I'll get it," he said, stretching a long arm out and snagging two muffins, he sat one down in front of Lara. "You will thank me," he said.

Lara gave him the finger, Keith wanted to sink into a hole, not knowing how Allura might take it. She was the Crown Princess and here was one of her people, giving the finger to his second in command, after they'd been together all night. He had to make sure to have a conversation with Lance about propriety.

Allura how ever just bust out laughing. "Is the muffin not appetizing with a hangover? What is a hang over like?"

"Princess!" Keith said alarmed as he sat back down.

Allura looked at him. "What, I'm curious. Not like I'll know first hand."

"It's a sluggish, icky, sometimes nauseas feeling with a really bad headache. My brother has claimed he's had concussions that were less painful," Lara said. "And while my stomach is okay, I'm just not sure about eating a muffin, at least not yet. No matter how good you all claim they are."

"So a hangover is similar to a concussion? Really? That's all it is?" Allura said.

Keith had to laugh, "Not exactly but yeah it's close."

Allura took a bite of her muffin, Keith couldn't take his eyes off her, because she wouldn't stop smiling. "Pidge have you grown a couple inches," Allura suddenly asked.

Pidge sat down his water, because he hated coffee and grinned. "I was wondering when any of you were going to notice! I have."

"It's very noticable to me suddenly," Allura said. "Even when you're sitting, I couldn't pinpoint it right away but that's it! We should make sure your flight suit fits right."

Pidge frowned. "Does that mean fittings with Nanny?"

"It won't be that bad."

"Uh, can I just pour myself more coffee?"

Keith tore his eyes off of Allura, and looked at Lara. "Yeah sure, and has he?" he asked, suddenly processing the conversation he'd just heard.

"Yes, I have," Pidge said.

"Yes, he has," Allura said in unison with him.

"So, Lara do you think you'll be seeing Lance again soon?" Allura asked.

Lara shrugged. "No idea, Princess Allura. Honestly, I think he'll be calling my friend Quiana to go out with tonight."

"Who?" Lance said as he walked in another chair, and set it at the other end of the table, so Nanny would be at one end and Keith the other, then Lance slid back in next to Allura, like it was normal. Keith found it strange, but it had to be so Lara didn't feel too weird about eating with the Princess, not that Lara was acting any different than Lara ever acted.

"Quiana, Lance. Five feet three, black hair, you couldn't stop talking about her boobs?"

"Uh," Lance was staring at Lara, his face a complete blank. "This was last night?"

"Yes."

"On our date, I met another girl, named Quiana?"

"Uh, huh. She's a friend, she was all over you cause she knew I wouldn't care."

"Yeah, right," Lance muttered, fidgeting in his seat. "Don't remember her. Must've been drunker than I thought."

"You're full of it. What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing is wrong her, I just don't remember her," Lance said.

Allura cleared her throat. "Well, that opens the night for you Lara," she said with a smile.

Lance then looked at Allura, Keith suddenly wished he could see what the hell Allura's face looked like when they were exchanging glances, because it was weird. Since when did Lance and Allura talk silently?

"He's getting nothing from me until tells me what's wrong with Quiana that the Mighty McClain can't tap that?"

"Holy, Crap, Lara, she is the Princess," Lance snapped.

"It's okay, you've said worse," Allura said.

Keith balked. "What?" he said, wondering what Lance has said to her, but Lance and Allura were having another little silent consult and then Lance was laughing and so was Allura.

"Yeah, you're right," Lance said to Allura before turning back to Lara. "Seriously, Lara, I just don't remember her."

"Because of a girly wine and some whiskey? Lance I've seen you more drunk than that and you remember every detail. So obviously something is wrong with Quiana."

"I don't like brunettes?" Lance tried.

Allura laughed.

"Stop laughing at me and help me," Lance said to her.

"Maybe, she just didn't make the impression you thought she did?" Allura offered. "Do you remember her boobs?" Allura asked innocently looking at Lance.

"You guys do know Nanny's going to come through that door at any second, right?" Keith reminded everyone, glaring at the silent Hunk and Pidge to try to help him out. "Maybe we should talk about our schedule for the day. Princess, when will you be finished with your duties for us to start practice?"

"Oh, um, I need to look at my planner," Allura said.

"I thought you looked at it before you went to bed, so you'd be ready in the morning?"

"I forgot last night, yesterday was busy, it was a busy day, wasn't it?"

Keith stared at her.

"Lance," Lara said. "Well, I'm still waiting to find out if you remember Quiana's boobs."

"I remember yours," Lance said.

"You wouldn't shut up about them? You mentioned them during sex, granted it made me laugh, any other woman would kicked you out of the bed."

Lance shrugged. "Those girly drinks go right to a man's head, sweetheart."

Lara narrowed her eyes, Keith forced himself to watch this because watching Lara and Lance usually was entertaining even if not something he'd ever bring in front of Allura.

"You really don't remember her at all, do you?" Lara suddenly said, her voice dead serious.

"Seriously."

"Huh," Lara said and picked up the muffin he'd given her and bit into it and then she moaned out orgasmically. "Oh, oh, oooh, daaaamn so, so, so, gooood."

When Keith looked back at Allura, her eyes were as round as saucers, her cheeks were pink and then she turned to Lance and whispered something in his ear. Lance chuckled, leaned in and whispered something into Allura's ear. What the? "Lance!" Keith slammed his mug onto the table, coffee sloshing out of it and onto the table cloth. "Hallway, now."

Allura's cheeks were nearly red when she turned to face him, Lance went from looking amused to pissed off when he saw Keith's face but he stood up. "Whatever you want, Commander," he said, then he shook his head.

Just then Nanny walked into the room and seeing Keith standing handed him the platter with the tea for her and Allura on it. "Lance, since you are standing can you get the eggs and bacon."

"Sure, thing, Nanny," Lance said.

Then Nanny started for her seat and Allura gasped. "Oh, Nanny, no that's Lance's seat!"

Everyone froze. Lance turned back his hand on the doorknob and met Allura's eyes, Keith watched them, Allura looked shocked about what had flown out of her mouth and then she was looking around.

"It's just I would like that to be Lance's seat from now on," Allura said really quickly and fast. "He has a guest today, this is Lara Wyeth, Lara this is Nanny. We got you a chair, see head of the table," Allura was rambling, Keith didn't think he'd ever seen Allura ramble. He turned furious eyes on Lance, and just knew he was to blame for this. There was something up.

Lance gave him a half smile. "Nanny, if you don't want to change seats, it's okay?" he said. "But, uh, I...kinda like that seat."

Keith watched Nanny, look from Allura, to him, then to Lance. Her mouth became a thin line and then she sat in the new chair. "It's no issue to me where I sit as long as I take tea with the Princess."

It felt like to Keith everyone in the room breathed out a huge sigh of relief, except for him. He set down the platter and stormed out into the hallway to wait for Lance. All the looks, the whispers, the seat, what the hell was going on with them? And Allura's bizarre interest in his love life, and it was like they had in-jokes. When the hell did they ever spend enough time together have an in-joke.

Keith realized he'd been pacing when he turned around and walked into Lance. Lance stepped back and waved. "Hi, reporting in for the hallway meeting."

"You can't have your one night stands sleep over," Keith said, deciding to get a few things settled. "I mean I like Lara, but come on, Lance?"

"It was an accident, trust me she didn't want to sleep over. She was mad as hell when she woke up, started punching me where I slept, naked! It wasn't pretty."

Keith frowned. "Whatever, just not again, okay?"

"Fine..." Lance trailed off and looked behind him toward the door, and walked forward, hand out making Keith take a few steps back. "What if I wanted to make Lara less of a casual friend with benefits thing and more of a girlfriend-girlfriend thing, she could maybe stay over sometimes then? I mean it's not like I can say at her place."

"Girlfriend?" Keith said, laughing in Lance's face. "Yeah, right. That's not going to fly as an excuse to let her sleep over now and again."

Lance sighed. "I'm serious here."

Keith didn't believe him, he shook his head. "What the hell is going on with you and the Princess."

"I have no idea what you mean," Lance deadpanned.

Keith knew him, his eyes gave away he was nervous about this part of the conversation. Way more nervous than he'd been about Lara still being in the castle. "Yes, yes you do. She's being weird, it's like she wants you to date Lara."

"Well, that would be because she knows I want to date Lara," Lance said, crossing his arms against his chest. "I needed some female advice."

"And she's helping you with dating advice?" Keith laughed. "And she knows what about dating?"

Lance stared at him for a full minute and then one of his arms flew out and he pointed at Keith. "That is the quid pro quo, I give her tips on male-female relationships, let her know what Nanny and Coran have been hiding from her and she just gives me some more insight into how the female brain works."

Keith's jaw dropped opened.

"Dude, you're catching flies."

Keith snapped his mouth shut. "You, your telling the Princess stuff about sex," he whispered in the hallway.

"Yes, yes I am," Lance said. "Because think about. Every time we go out there Lotor is drooling for her, we're training her to fight him off but don't think she should have a clue about what she's protecting herself from. Plus Nanny and Coran are always ready to toss her at any prince that comes around. Really a title isn't going to stop a guy from being a guy. She needs to know things, so why not tell her. She knew you wouldn't because your almost as overprotective as Nanny and Coran. That left me, Hunk or Pidge. Think about it? Why do you think she asked me?"

Keith stared, slapped his hands against his face and let them slide down. "You, she, you can't... Lance she's a Crowned Princess, she's going to be a Queen, of a very conservative and traditional planet."

"There are more people like Lara out there than you know, by the way," Lance said.

"They aren't the majority," Keith said.

"Yet," Lance said, shrugging. "Look, I'm not telling her how to go out and get laid for crying out loud. It's just some education, usually she asks what she wants to know, I just try to answer."

"Yeah, but you are the one answering," Keith muttered. "What did you just whisper to her?"

"Oh, that," Lance laughed. "She wanted to know if Lara sounded like what she thought Lara sounded like when she was eating the muffin."

"Do I want to know what you told her?"

"Probably not," Lance said with a grin.

"Stop it," Keith said. "Just stop it now."

"Uh, no," Lance said.

"That is an order."

"Uh, Keith, last I checked you were my commander when it came to Voltron, not my friendships. What Allura and I decide to do with our friendship. Not under your control."

Keith ground his teeth, he really hated it when Lance was right, especially when Lance was being so... Lance and wrong. Lance was already walking back into the breakfast room, Keith followed on his heels, just in time to catch another look between him and Allura. Then Allura gave him another glowy, bright smile of sunshine and almost all his anger fell completely away.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Allura's cheeks hurt because she couldn't stop smiling. She'd woken up smiling because she was going to see Keith, she'd bathed, done her hair and gotten dressed smiling. She'd nearly cried and smiled when she saw her maidens walk into her room, it'd been so long since she'd seen their bright, young faces, heard their chatter about the Castle gossip. She laughed, when what they were talking about was how Lieutenant McClain's girlfriend Lara still hadn't left his room yet and sighed when they stopped discussing it when she entered the room. But still she couldn't stop smiling and she hated that she couldn't just ask them to continue discussing the topic, she found it interesting.

She'd loved meeting Lara. Lance had spoken about her a lot the past few days. He hadn't said it out loud but Allura was fairly sure he wanted to stop being so casual with her and take the relationship in more serious direction. He'd seen the way he kept looking at the family portraits and pictures in the future, not just of their family, but of L.T.'s and Lia's childhoods too. He'd denied it every time she asked but once, and that time he'd stayed really quiet and not looked her in the eye. He'd realized he wanted a family in the future, and he was going to give a real relationship a try Allura was sure of it.

Allura hoped he'd picked the right woman. Lara seemed free spirited, fun-loving and full of life. But more the type of woman for the Lance that he let the world see, not the one that Allura had really gotten to know. She's seen them both sides of him at the breakfast table. He often did that play a dualistic role, while acting one really being another she thought idly. Never really revealing to anyone the real man underneath all the sarcasm and quick temper. He'd come in with Lara, well almost in, he was having difficulty getting her to join them, so she'd hurried out to give her okay, knowing that she was reason Lara was turning him down. She'd hadn't needed to hear Lara say it to know it. Then as the breakfast went on, he'd made sure Lara eat, gotten Nanny a chair and gotten in a fight with Keith.

She felt a bit responsible for the fight with Keith, it was both her and Lance's fault they'd been acting so strangely. It was harder to break habits forged in the future than she'd thought. Like she'd truly forgotten Nanny sat next to her when she came out for tea, until after she burst out that it was Lance's seat. Lance for his part covered for her, then they'd whispered one time to many she supposed. Keith was a creature of habit, he noticed small chances, huge changes like her and Lance whispering, and her asking Lara so many personal question and out of character for a princess questions. Keith must have been thinking something was really wrong.

She of course had smiled through all of the breakfast despite all the ups and downs, and spent the whole time trying not to stare at Keith. It'd been difficult. He seemed even more handsome to her after so long out of her sight, with his dark eyes and his long hair. He kept smiling shyly back at her too, when he wasn't frowning at Lance, Lara or the whole strange situation. Until he'd gotten so angry at Lance, he'd ordered him into the hallway.

She and Lance were best friends, it'd happened over the last few weeks. She wouldn't change it either, Allura realized. The issue was that before hand they were friends, teammates, but they weren't even near as close as they were now. She felt safe talking to Lance, about things that she couldn't with Keith, because it was all about Keith. And there were other things, like what happened, she was sure they would bot need to just let it out now and again for a few weeks. They went to the future, a crazy, surreal and at times beautiful future. In that future they'd gotten into habits, like Lance sitting next to her every morning at breakfast, and talking over their days at dusk out at the garden - would he show up tonight? Allura wondered, she hoped he did, she'd gotten used to his bluntness and how he made her laugh at everything, even herself.

She still didn't know what had happened in the hallway, Lance had stalked into the room before Keith, looking angry but he had it under control. He'd sat down and told her to just go along with whatever Keith asked, he'd fill her in later in a low voice. When Keith walked in he looked less angry but a bit dazed, and he kept looking at them, and shaking his head at Lance. Allura didn't dare guess, she'd find out soon enough she supposed.

"Coran can see you now, Princess," the young woman who worked as Coran's assistant said, walking out of Coran's office.

Allura smiled,or rather brightened her smile, her stomach flipped and butterflies winged their way around inside in loops. She took a few breaths to steel herself, she was very unsure of how her two questions were going to go. But she needed them both to go her way, her happiness depended on it, and her curiosity depended on it.

She stepped inside Coran's office, it'd once been her father's, Coran hadn't wanted it but when the guys arrives Allura had insisted. Coran had raised her, kept her safe, he was the man in the Castle who knew the most about how to run the Castle. She couldn't be the Princess she was without him. He deserved the good office.

"Princess," Coran stood, bowed and smiled at seeing her before taking his seat again. "How can I help you today?"

"I have two requests, Coran."

"Very well, what are they? Please do sit," he gestured at the chair, she usually took when they conducted business together.

Allura shook her head. "I think I need to stand. The first one concerns the Prophecies, Father was in possession of a few as I recall. In the past you would always say I was not old enough, I wasn't ready. But I feel that I am now. I would like to know where they are," she tried to stay regal as she made the request and she cursed her happiness because her mouth insisted on smiling. At least her tone had been regal, she thought, thankfully.

"I see," Coran said. Allura held her breath, 'I see,' meant Coran didn't like what he heard but it didn't mean he would say no, she waited. "Very well, you are old enough, you are part of the Voltron Force, and you've proven over my doubts and objections how strong you are," Coran shook his head. "They are in a secret compartment, at the base of his tomb, under where his head lays. I myself have only seen part of one, what he let me see, the one about the five men who would come and resurrect Voltron."

Allura's smile grew greater, at least it felt so inside of herself, she wasn't sure her face could take more stretching. He was letting her see what her father knew already about them, what he had meant when he tucked in at knight. Letting her see what she already knew in her heart, that Keith and Lance were destined Arusian heroes along with Pidge, Hunk and Sven. "Thank you, thank you, Coran," she said, flying over to the desk and kissing him on the cheek twice. "Thank you."

"You're, you're quite welcome," he stammered. "Princess, remember yourself."

Allura nodded and stood straight again, brushed down her skirt and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. "I'm very grateful."

"Yes," Coran said, arranging his already intact clothing back into pristine appearance. "Your other request."

Allura let out a nervous breath. "This is really important to me Coran. It's so important, so please don't say no outright," she said, trying not to sound too pleading right away. But this was her future, this was her and Keith. This was it, this was her making her choice for what she wanted, what she'd wanted since the first moment she'd seen him and his dark features. Then when she found out the strength, sweet and amazingly brave man underneath the exterior she'd wanted him even more. "I want to date Keith, Commander Kogane, and I realize that I can't tell him this, but as my advisor and Guardian you can Coran. I would like you to give Commander Kogane permission to court me. I love him and I do believe he may feel the same about me, but is afraid to voice it because of my status as Princess and his as an outsider with no title. Please?" she added at the end and she knew she sounded desperate but it was her whole future on the line. Her life. "Please?" she added one more time as Coran was silent.

"I feared this day would come," Coran said. "I'd hoped you wait until you were closer to twenty-one. You do know you cannot marry until then Allura, you cannot become the Queen until then. And until then all you can do is be courted? Commander Kogane and you cannot consummate a relationship."

Allura blushed. "I understand, I know my duties, Coran. I know the traditions."

Coran sighed. "There would be strict rules to his courting of you, Allura, but yes, I will speak with him and if he so wishes he will have permission to ask you for dates - Within the Castle, on Castle grounds. It cannot go public, That is one of the rules,"

Allura nodded, her mind wondering to what Keith's reaction might when Coran tells him. Shock at first, but he will be happy, of course he will. He'll probably get shy around her at first. He's so shy sometimes, Allura thought, she might have to drag the question out of him. Or maybe he would just walk up to her and boldly ask her, he could be so bold as well.

Coran was talking, telling her the rules they would have to follow, she was hearing them on some level, but not really processing them. Her imagination was too busy taking her away on her first dates with Keith. She could hold his hand, gaze into his eyes, she could look at him without having to worry about getting caught. When would he kiss her for the first time - she'd been dreaming about it for so long. She knew she was blushing, she knew she was smiling more than ever now - she may never stop smiling again.

"Do you understand, Allura?"

"Yes, Coran," Allura said, though she really hadn't processed a thing he said. She could find out the rules later, from Keith, it didn't really matter, she was going to get to date the man she loved.

She floated out of Coran's office, looked to her left and her right, then went toward the stairs that led down to the where her father was buried. It was time to put the scroll she had hidden in the sleeve in her dress in with the others.

She would look too, she had to look. Once she heard of the finding of the prophecies in the future, they'd grabbed hold of her, reminded her of what she'd been raised to believe in. Why Arusian churches had been built? About the Arusian Seers. She wondered if there were still any now? Were they out there? Did they still exist? She didn't know but she believed in them, even if she didn't believe in one thread of a future she'd seen play out, a thread could change, one thing could change.

Lance was right, the future was fluid, she remembered early lessons about Seers, and passage in a book she read. She'd found it last night before she went to sleep. It read:

_True Prophecy is a tricky thing to learn and to understand, it is never revealed to one clearly and the future is something that can change on the wind, on the whim of a child, or simple choice. The rare times something feels to a Seer to be Set In Stone - those rare and beautiful prophecies - They were thought to happen, not because they were fated but because the people involved in the events leading up to events made a journey full of daily decisions led them there. Remember every choice is wind blowing against a thread._

Allura intended to show it Lance, later, to show him he was right. They could change the future. It was changeable, they would make their own choices and it would change around them. It gave her hope.

~~.~~

Lance typed in his security access code and Allura's bedroom door opened. He walked into her room, before they'd left breakfast she'd let him know she'd hidden the clothes from the future in her ballgown wardrobe. It was only opened when there was a ball and there were no upcoming balls. He made his way across the room and found himself looking at three wardrobes. He opened one and saw Allura's day to day dresses, not at all casual. They seemed ball gown wear to him as they were but what did he know?

He thought she looked her best when she dressed casually. In the future she'd been borrowing Princess Laurie's jeans and tops. Neither of the two Princesses or the Queen had worn a dress once, Lance realized.

"Huh," he said to himself and opened another wardrobe and it was all the pantsuits that consisted of Allura's so called casual wear. All various shades of pink. He frowned remembering her admitting to him, when he asked her why she hadn't worn anything pink in over a week that she didn't like pink. She said she did as a little girl, but over the years she'd grown tired of it. He didn't blame her. Everything she owned was pink. Last but not least he opened the right wardrobe, then he had to get down on his hands and knees to try to get through the full skirts of various pinks, ruffles and lacy underskirts to get to the back corner where the jeans and the simple yellow top Allura had been wearing the night they came back were hidden.

He was about to grab the clothes, when he heard the door code being entered and Nanny talking to one of the maids. "No, Ione, we will wash the windows first, it's better when the sun not shining directly into the room blinding us, we'll miss spots then..."

"Crap," Lance thought and did the only thing he could do, he went all the way in the wardrobe and closed the door on himself. He found himself sitting, with the clothes on his lap, with his head up a ball gown skirt. "Not really how I pictured ever getting up Allura's skirt," he muttered to himself and then shook his head. "Not that I want to," he reminded himself.

Listening to Nanny and maid he wasn't happy to hear they were indeed washing Allura's windows. Her huge, floor to ceiling windows, that over looked Arus's lush green hills. This wasn't good, he could be stuck here for hours. He'd miss practice and Keith was all ready pissed with him because he'd gotten jealous at breakfast and Lance's cover story really hadn't helped matters. Didn't matter it was partially true, Allura was giving Lance insight into at least how her female mind worked. He wasn't really sure he could apply it to Lara, Lara was not the typical female.

Lara still hadn't given him an answer about if she'd go out with him again tonight, she was supposed to let him know by six. God, he hoped he was out of the closet by then, especially if she said yes. Of course Keith might kill him for missing practice, and what could he give as an excuse. "I'm sorry, I was up the princess's ball gown skirt hiding from Nanny in her room?"

Lance shook his head, he was grabbing the damn clothes because practice was soon and his plan had been to incinerate the clothes from the future. No clothes, no clues. It seemed the best way to handle it, not that anyone was suspicious of time travel. Who would be? Lance leaned his head back and decided to get as comfortable as he could. Maybe a miracle would take place and Nanny would take a break soon and he could sneak out, he had to keep alert and eavesdropping.

"Ione, pay attention to what you are doing, you've been washing that same spot for two minutes, it's clean."

"Sorry, Nanny," Ione said. "I was just... Do you think Lanc... uh Lieutenant McClain likes quiet girls?"

"I don't think about what Lieutenant McClain likes at all. Neither should you, why are you asking?"

"I was just... it's for a friend."

"Mmph. A friend is it, and this friend of yours she going to make it known to a man she is interested in him?"

"The woman who was here today, for breakfast, rumors say she walked right up to him and told him they were going to go out."

"I knew that woman looked like trouble. You are a Arusian woman, you wait for a man to ask you out. You don't encourage them, you don't flirt with them. You don't toy with them. You young girls today, you have no patience, it is because there are not enough gatherings, and town festivals. That was were the men would ask the women to dance and men would find their wives. The Princess needs to implement more traditional festivities and dances. I'll have to talk to Coran, then you young ladies will be less impatient and go around chasing men. Now you tell your friend to stay away from Lieutenant McClain."

Lance rolled his eyes, and wondered if Ione was really talking about a friend, maybe if Lara did say no... then he remembered pictures of himself surrounded by grandchildren looking happier than he'd ever seen himself. He groaned, caught himself and didn't breath for a full minute.

"Did you hear something?"

"No, Ma'am," Ione said.

No he had to stay a one woman man, Lara was it. She was fun, she smart, she was independent and that was good, he liked independent and strong women, he always had. She was sexy and they were really great together. He just had to figure out a way to get her to commit, that was going to be the hard part. When he thought it about it, Lara's stance on committment seemed even harsher than his. He'd always sort of admired the people that could do it, he'd always secretly envied them he supposed. She on the other hand seemed to think they were all insane. Maybe it was bravado, she had a protective layer, like he did, that could be part of it. Lance sighed, he still hadn't figured out where to take her tonight if she did agree to out with him two nights in a row - well for her, anyway.

"Okay, then, one window down, three to go."

Lance looked at his watch and groaned, practice was starting in ten minutes he was screwed. He had to figure a way of this, and now, maybe if made some noise he could scare them into running, the guards would run in and he could tell the guards it was a test and not to tell Nanny anything? That wouldn't fly, Keith would hear and want to know what the hell he was doing in Allura's bedroom let alone the wardrobe.

"Nanny?"

"Oh, Allura, hello."

"I need to get changed, for Lion Practice, could you."

"Oh of course. Leave the buckets, Ione. We'll go down the hall and see how Phillipa and Leese have made progress on the windows in the guest room."

Lance waited until he heard the door click, then he barged out of the closet before Allura could start changing. Allura gasped, then she started laughing. "Oh, how long..." She couldn't catch her breath.

"Oh this is funny to you, I was planning to be out there before everyone, now I'll be lucky to be on time. Windows, they had to wash the windows..."

Allura took a few breaths, let out a few more laughs and then sat down, she giggled. "I'm sorry, it's just, you have a ruffle on your head, it must've come loose." She stood back up and pulled it off of him.

He looked down at the pink fabric in her hand and shook his head, he laughed. "Want me to burn that too?"

"Could you, the whole lot of them, then maybe I could sneak in some other colors," Allura said.

"A blue, a green and an yellow?"

"Turquoise. Orange. Black. Red."

"Zebra?" Lance said.

"Oh, cheetah!" Allura clapped her hands together.

Lance looked her up down and grinned. "Yeah, I want to see the day you wear a little cheetah print number dress and Nanny dies."

Allura swatted him. "Will you be at the garden later?" she asked, suddenly all serious.

"Yeah, if you want, why?"

She sighed. "Uh, just another prophecy or two about us, but I found that quote I remembered in the book I had about Seers. I can show you."

"The one about the future being contingent on choices?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Lance decided he couldn't ignore the other part of her sentence. "Prophecies about us? Here? In the present, really?"

Allura nodded. "Right under the one about the five of you being our saviors. Was more, it went on, it had Sven being injured and returning with a daughter of Arus from another world."

"Romelle," Lance said.

"And uh, then it... We don't have time," she pointed to his watch.

Lance sighed. "Fine the garden, five?"

"Five!" She smiled.

"Don't your cheeks hurt? You've been a smiling loon all morning?"

"I know!" She laughed. "Now shoo, I have to get dressed."

"Tell Keith, I'm sorry I'm late."

"Okay."

Lance carefully left her room, making sure there was no Nanny, or no maids lurking, then he ran to his own room, grabbed the outfit he'd worn home from the future. Then he waited until he knew he'd be late, ran to change into his uniform, then ran to the control to grab the chute to Red Lion. "Commander Kogane, said to say relay his unhappiness with your lateness, Lieutenant, Coran said from the control."

Lance said, "I know, I know," and sprinted as fast as he could and just hoped Coran wouldn't care to ask or remember what was in the bag he was carrying. Once in the lion, he wasted another minute shoot the bag out while still in the volcano, and though he knew the lava would burn it, he blasted it with Red's fire anyway to make it disappear faster. Evidence gone. Though he did wonder what else Allura had found with their names all intertwined on ancient paper, hopefully not written bad poetry, in Alfor's tomb.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Allura watched as first Lance, then Pidge, repeated the sequence of events that Keith had set up and demonstrated for them. They were to tear through the canyon in the desert at their top speed. After completing that, without stopping they were to climb up out of Arus's atmosphere remaining at top speed, then hit a target three times with a precision blast. Everyone was being timed, and everyone's targets would be judged against each others.

Keith and Lance had made it look easy, but Allura knew from experience, what they made look easy usually was really difficult for someone less experienced, and less naturally adept at flying. Pidge seemed fine, until he started his ascent upward, then he started to slow down.

"Come on Pidge, you're losing speed," Keith barked over the video communication.

"On it, Chief," Pidge said.

"You can do it, Little Buddy," Hunk said.

"Pidge, for crying outloud watch your thrusters, are you back in flight training?" Lance said shaking his head, Allura rolled her eyes, it sounded like he was riding Pidge for not doing his job. Shaking his head at the kid for screwing up something he deemed to be easy. She'd figured him out though, after one of the one on one practices with him in the future. It'd been in the middle of an argument about how he treated her during practice, and he said something that made everything click in her head. It'd been enlightening. She'd hated training with him alone before, loathed it, yet sometimes Keith insisted and she never could figure out why. Now she knew.

Everything Lance said, even everything he did while flying with you when he trained you was a tip, a way to show you how to get yourself out a jam, Lance wasn't going to be polite or give compliments to you up there, because there wasn't time, and you had to be able to handle hard fire from the enemy. Lance played the enemy.

"I am, I am," Pidge said through clenched teeth and Allura saw his eyes go to where his thruster readouts would be on his control panel. Seconds later Green Lion edged up higher and once again reached full speed just before bursting out of the atmosphere. From there she couldn't watch, but she was sure Pidge did fine on the targeting.

"Princess, your turn starts now. Just take it easy, you don't have to be as fast as the rest of us."

"Okay," she said, thinking she was sure going to try be as fast as they were. She'd been getting better and better had not holding herself back in the past (future?) weeks. Just yesterday, she and Lance had raced this very canyon and she'd almost had him. Almost. She shook her head to focus on the present, on now and on impressing Keith. She'd made strides and she wanted Keith to see that, even if he couldn't know how or when.

Allura started up her high speed run. Blue Lion was a graceful ship, like all lions there were parts of it that Allura was sure went untouched and untamed by human control, but it listened to her, it followed her wishes when she asked it go left, go right, go faster.

She pushed for speed, feet on the pedals, hands on the steering and eyes on view and on her gauges. It was so many things at once. She thought once that she'd never get used to it, that there was no way she could. She'd thought she'd gotten herself over her head. Now she knew better, now she knew this was something she'd been born to do, and she a part of her loved it. She checked her speed, she still wasn't fast enough, she pushed herself and the lion harder. Checked her thrusters, checked all the gauges, checked the course ahead of her, looking for where she could gain speed because at some turns there was nothing to do but slow down or lose control.

"You're being too hesitant, over-thinking," Lance snapped at her.

"She's doing fine, just try to pick your speed up on the next straight away, Princess," Keith said.

"You can do it, Princess," Hunk and Pidge said in unison.

"Stop thinking, Allura, push it," Lance muttered.

Allura narrowed her eyes. If she kept pushing where she was now she could get Blue to top speed, but there was corner coming up. Could she really handle that curve at top speed? "Lance," she said asking him.

"Don't trust your own skills, might as well set the lion down now, get out and back into a pink ruffly dress."

"Oh you piss me off," she muttered, he'd said that on purpose too. She pushed on ahead, she felt Blue go full speed, she held onto the controls, she watched all her gauges and only put her foot over the brake in case it was needed. She flew into the curve at top speed and flew out without a hitch.

"And it never fails," Lance laughed.

"Lance shut up. Princess, be careful don't push to far ahead of your skills."

"Keith, she has the skills, she just did it," Lance said.

Allura tuned them out, finished the canyon run and pulled up climbed up into the atmosphere with no issues. When she got up into space, she saw the target, and giggled. It was a being held between two drones, and was a picture of Lotor, that already had lovely blast holes in between it. Keith come on the private channel."

"I want you to shoot three times with your precise laser beam from your tail, diving towards it fast," his voice sounded clipped and strange.

"Okay," she said and did as he asked. She found she liked how Blue felt when she was let free to go top speed, the vibrations underneath. Blue liked the speed, she felt right in Allura's going this fast. She fired using everything she'd learned about targeting and shooting over the past two years, and prayed she'd hit the target.

"Keith, is something wrong?" she asked when she was finished, keeping the private line open.

"Lance shouldn't have pushed you to do that turn so fast, that. You aren't ready yet, you got lucky."

"He wouldn't have pushed if he didn't think I was ready. I asked him if he was sure, you heard him."

"Allura just yesterday you barely finished that run at half that speed. I wasn't expecting you to go full out today." Keith sighed. "I don't know what you two were thinking, but that seems to be the theme of the day."

Allura eyes widened, yesterday she had barely finished it at half speed? "I..." she thought back, or tried to think back. The problem was she really didn't remember the day before she went to the future. It was a day, there had been no attack, they'd trained, they ate, she did her duties, she'd daydreamed about Keith. "I was blocked, yesterday," she muttered and closed off the private communication.

She and Lance were epically failing on not making huge mistakes in just pretending like nothing had happened. She brought Blue down for a landing next to Red Lion and let her head hit the steering.

~~.~~

Lance jumped down to the ground, after Hunk had finished his run, only to be pushed against his own lion by Keith, a very irate Keith. "What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"Pushing her into full speed like, what the hell is wrong with you? Yesterday she nearly crashed at half speed five times."

"She..." Lance's felt his mouth drop open and he tried, he tried to go back to the real yesterday, not his yesterday. In his yesterday before they left, they'd he and her raced the canyon and the damn girl had nearly beat him. Only because she had the faster lion. At least that was what he was telling himself. "Uh, no yesterday she was holding herself back. And you're not helping her. You go hot and cold on her training Keith. Which is it? Treat her like the rest of us or with kid gloves? You either throw her in the fire, or go over protective, and lately it's been all over protective, you've been coddling her. To shut up Nanny and Coran I bet?"

Keith didn't move, his hand stayed pinned to Lance's shoulder keeping him stuck to his lion but Keith broke eye contact. "It's complicated, Lance. She's got to stay sharp, but she's the Princess. We should be protecting her. I want to protect her," Keith admitted looking up.

Lance nodded. "What you don't think I want to protect her? Best way is make her kick ass. Which is not really that hard, considering her determination to do it. Just let her."

Keith dropped his arm. "So let me guess, she told you how she hates the coddling and how it holds her back."

"Uh, something like that." Lance lied, then he started to go with the lie. "She says, the more scared she thinks others are for her, the more scared she gets in the cockpit. So if you're coddling, she thinks you don't trust her skills. And she gets scared because you're scared for her..." Lance trailed off, thinking there is no way he buys this load of bull.

"She did say something about being blocked yesterday," Keith mumbled.

Lance nodded, feeling relief, she probably freaked out when he mentioned yesterday too. We are sucking at acting like nothing happened. "See," he said to Keith.

"You two are weirding me out," Keith said.

"What, why?" Lance said, though he had clue or two why.

"She says your name, you tell her if she doesn't trust her skills to get out of the lion and put her dress back on? Where are these conversations coming from? I've never heard her talk like that before, and I've certainly never seen you two talk so much, let alone, silently like you were doing all through breakfast."

"Maybe you just weren't paying attention," Lance tried, but he knew that wouldn't fly. Keith always paid attention, especially to Allura.

Keith glared at him, because it didn't even deserve Keith saying anything Lance got that he did but he had to play dumb.

"What? What else could it be?"

"Then we weren't paying attention either," Pidge and Hunk said unison.

Lance felt the corner he was in getting smaller, great they were joining this was great. How was he going to get out this. "Don't know what you mean," he said.

"It's weird, you and Princess seem to have, overnight formed an entirely new level of friendship, that I would estimate could take weeks, or even months depending on the people and/or situations inherent in the process. Given that it is you and Princess Allura, I would say weeks would do. But still 24 hours, probably even less since you had a date last night, and Allura was last scene at 9 pm before entering her room... It seems strange that you two seem suddenly bonded. It's almost like you two are pod people. But only around each other... Oh did you two get abducted by aliens!" Pidge eyes went as wide as his glasses, Lance was looking down into big green irises.

"Pidge, we are the aliens on this planet," Lance said.

"Oh."

"Oh, Oh I know. You and Allura have been having secret rendezvous?" Hunk said.

Lance opened his mouth and closed it, he felt Keith near him getting angry at just the thought of secret rendezvous. Lance didn't blame him, he couldn't go along with that idea, he had to come up with something else. He was thinking, and thinking for some plausible way to get out of this.

"Yes," Allura answered for him. Going with the rendezvous idea, the wrong idea, totally the wrong idea. "We have been meeting, it wasn't really a secret though. I guess however we didn't mention it to anyone else."

"What!" Keith shouted and punched Lance in the shoulder.

"Ouch," Lance punched Keith back in the stomach.

Keith staggered back and glared at Lance for punching himhim hard enough to make him lose his balance, Keith never lost his balance. Lance glared back. "You hit me," he pointed out.

"Huh, I thought I was just setting up Lance to get in more trouble with Keith," Hunk said, lauging along with Pidge.

"Well, we have, every night around dusk, in my garden," Allura explained.

Lance had to give it to her, it was a known fact Allura went out there every night to think. To clear her head after a long day and she requested no guards, no maids, no Nanny and no Voltron Force. "I asked him to meet me one day, just talk about something and then it became a habit," Allura smiled. "One I plan to keep."

Lance met her eyes there and nodded, if she wanted to keep the habit they'd gotten into in the future, fine with him. He knew she wanted to talk tonight, but if she wanted to keep it up, fine with him.

"How long?" Keith asked.

"Few weeks," Lance threw out there since it was the truth.

"It meets my guestimation for the criteria for them start seeming closer," Pidge said.

Keith threw up his hands. "Fine, whatever, I give up. I have to go, Coran asked to see me after Lion practice. You guys have thirty minutes until hand to hand."

Allura started to bounce on her toes, her eyes dancing along with her smile, she beamed at Lance. "What?" She walked closer, blushing, and leaned up on her toes so she could tell him, so Hunk and Pidge, who were still nearby wouldn't hear.

"Coran's telling Keith he has permission to date me," she said.

Lance was surprised, he was really surprised Coran had given in on her first try. "Wow, I thought he'd make you beg a bit more," he said.

"Me too. There are rules, of course. I didn't really listen to them, I'll probably have to ask Keith what they are, so I don't inadvertently break any of them."

"I can bet a few," Lance said.

"What?"

"Chaperones, no sex, and probably no leaving the castle."

"Well the no sex was to be expected, I'm to be a virgin on the wedding night."

"And yet the future thinks you marry me," Lance shook his head.

Allura blushed. "Lance!"

"No way, no how, if you and I got together there'd be any waiting for a wedding night."

"You wouldn't wait for me?"

"You wouldn't want to wait," Lance winked.

"You are so bad," Allura shook her head. "Anyway, I know that one. I do think I did hear him say we couldn't leave Castle grounds. I don't know about chaperones. Oh, I hope Coran didn't say Nanny, she probably wouldn't even let him hold my hand."

"He'd do it anyway, don't worry. Look, I need to head inside," Lance said, "I want to see if Lara got back to me about going out tonight."

"Lance?"

Lance stopped walking away because Allura grabbed his wrist. "Are you sure she's the right girl?"

"She's the only one I got," Lance said, then he took off because he didn't like the way Allura looking at him with her big blue eyes right then. He walked swiftly into the castle, and straight to his room. The whole time reminding himself of what was great about Lara. Smart, independent, called him on his bull, sexy, beautiful, they had great sex. It wasn't bad on paper, it worked, out of all the women he had in his metaphorical little black book, because he didn't have a hard copy, she was the best of the best. He liked her best, he maybe he even loved her a little bit already, so why not fall in with her and raise a family.

It was a good choice, Lance thought, a great one. He stripped out of his flight uniform, grabbed his gi, because might as well put that on now it wouldn't do for him to be late for two practice sessions in a row. Even if Keith's mood was bound to pick up. Then he picked up his cell phone that he'd left on his dresser while at practice, Keith didn't allow them in lions, which was a damn good rule. Nothing like a ring tone going off during a robeast battle; "Oh hey, Mom, earth's great, that's good. Crap! Oh, sorry, that was nothing - MAGMA PISTOLS - just uh doing my job."

He had three messages. Quiana Dequane was the first one, he frowned, that was Lara's friend, the one he apparently had really liked and flirted with shamelessly. The one he was expected to ask out, he listened to it hoping maybe her voice might jog his memory, it felt like years ago not even weeks. Guess time travel did that to a guy. "Hey, you said I better call you, because you're kept busy at castle. I was just calling to see if you still wanted to go see the concert tonight, at 8? At the Willows."

He'd already asked her out? Oh, great just great, Lance sighed, he really couldn't just ditch her either. He ran a hand through his hair and tried to think what to do when the second message came in. This time it was Ione the maid, how had she gotten his number? "I guess you're wondering how I got your number, I looked in Princess's phone book, don't tell her. I just.. uh, would you come talk to me at around 4 in the kitchen. Did you know you that there is a concert tonight at the Willows?" Lance rolled his eyes, poor Ione was trying to simultaneously throw herself at him and ask him out at the same time. Why was this happening now? Lara's voice was next, she didn't bother introducing herself she just started yelling. "You already asked her out, you imbecile. You better damn well show up at the Willows at 8 looking damn good for her too. You understand me!"

Lance hung up, so much for going out with Lara tonight, he'd have to find a way to get her to out again soon, to make his first pitch. And make it clear to Quiana that he'd made a mistake asking her out - if even had, she was close to Lara, for all he knew she might have asked him. Ione was an issue, did he ignore her crush or not? Damn it, he probably should tell her he was into someone one else, seriously, because that was the plan. Lara was the plan.

It was a good plan too. His door chimed. "Yeah, it's open," he said, sitting down on his bed to try to figure out how to let the young maiden down. Especially since he was likely to run into her all the time in the Castle.

Keith walked into his room, still in his flight uniform, holding his helmet by his hip looking completely dazed. Lance took one look at him and started laughing.

Keith pointed a finger at him, though the dazed expression didn't vanish and accused. "You knew."

"She told me when you left to go talk to Coran."

"But you knew, you knew before that she was going to talk to Coran."

"Yeah," Lance said.

"You, you, could warn a guy."

"You warn a guy about bad news, Keith. Not good news. Good news is a good surprise."

"I, I don't like surprises. I'm not, I'm not ready for this," Keith said, sitting down next to Lance on his bed.

"Keith, you're twenty-four."

"She's only nineteen."

"And? So what, she's seen more, been through more than most nineteen years old. She's a Princess. Pidge is only fifteen and is seasoned pilot of the Voltron Force, not to mention smarter than all of us."

"Touché," Keith muttered.

"I thought you'd be happier about this," Lance said.

"I," Keith smiled. "I am, I am. It's just, I really thought I'd never have this chance."

Lance nodded.

"I'm not sure what to do now I have the shot."

"You ask her out."

"Right, we can't go out, per se. We have to stay in the Castle. Chaperoned."

"Him or Nanny right?"

"Actually, he said it could you guys."

"Us guys?" Lance's eyes widened. "Huh, go figure."

"Yeah. So, uh, you have a date tonight? Want to change it for here?"

"You want me and my date to be your chaperones?"

"Well, yeah, you two can be in one corner and leave me and Allura alone?" Keith said.

"Smooth, I like it. Yeah, I'll call Quiana back and tell her to come here instead of meeting me at the Willows."

"Quiana, the one you don't remember?"

Lance shook his head. "Don't ask. Apparently either she or I asked her out last night. I don't know."

"You seem too sober to have been that drunk last night."

"It was the girly fruity wine," Lance said putting the blame on the wine again because he had nothing else to blame it on. He couldn't wait for today to be over so people would stop bringing up yesterday. "I'm going to have to tell her though that I want to date-date Lara, tonight. You sure you want us as chaperones and not Pidge or Hunk?"

Keith glared at him. "As much as I am disliking how you and Allura snuck around everyone and created this friendship where you've been telling her god's knows what about sex - and please stop by the way - I am not bringing a fifteen year old out on our dates. And Hunk, well I love him but he's Hunk, and even if he had a date of his own around, he wouldn't leave us alone. He'd make it a party, not a date. You, and I don't know why, are the only one who'd actually get the hint to stay in your corner. Plus you always have a date, and what do you mean, date-date Lara. You still talking about getting serious with her?"

"Yes, I'm planning on getting serious with her," Lance said.

"Are you going to stop talking to Allura about sex?"

"Only if she stops asking me questions about it," Lance said, partly because it was the truth, and partly to make Keith mad.

Keith groaned. "She tries a bad seductive line on me, I know whose fault it is."

"Or, she just sucks at being seductive, I'll have you know I've never failed to get a woman in bed."

Keith groaned. "How, how with the cheesy things you say to them?"

Lance winked at his friend. "It's all part of the McClain charm, and now I'm going to use it all on Lara. And Lara alone. That reminds me I need to find Ione."

"Ione. One of Allura's maids?"

"Yeah, she wants me to drop by the kitchen and ask her to the concert, I need to go let her down, easy, somehow... any suggestions? Then I'll call Quiana about tonight. You going to go ask Allura?"

Keith turned green on him. Lance grabbed him and pulled him out into the hallway. "Do not barf in my room! Jesus, Keith, it's just asking Allura to hold your hand in the rec room or something."

"I know, it's just... She's the Princess. And I've been protecting her all this time, and telling myself it's because she's the Princess. And trying to ignore that I'm drawn to her intuition, sweetness, purity of heart and determination. I mean I went through that spirit world thing, and I still denied to myself it meant more... I don't know. It's rather sudden."

"Keith it's not that sudden. You two have been making moon eyes at each other for two years. It's time to step up the puppy love."

Keith sighed. "The rules are restricting."

Lance shrugged. "They can't be that bad, probably a few are bendable."

Keith shook his head. "No, no. It's too important to Arus that she follow them, it's a traditional planet that needs their traditions more than ever now that they are rebuilding."

Lance frowned, something in his gut revolting at the idea of Arus remaining to steadfast and Allura being too hampered by tradition. "Keith, what are the rules?

"What, Allura didn't tell you?"

Lance sighed. "Allura didn't listen, she was too happy knowing she was going to be dating you soon."

Keith smiled at that. "Really?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "Go ask her out, while I go deal with the women I don't want to date. Yet, I am I'm stuck with one, not that I even remember her."

Lance took off down the hall, to check in the kitchen to see if Ione was in there, not that it was close to four o clock, maybe he could find someone else who knew where she was now. The sooner he let her down easy, the better for everyone. Then he'd call back Quiana, ask her to come to the Castle for their date, instead of the concert and they could just hang out and he'd talk about Lara the whole time. Couldn't hurt to get a perspective on Lara from a friend of hers, and it would help his case with Lara and give Quiana the hint that he is currently all about the Lara. It would work, it had to work.

He rounded a corner and walked right into Allura, also already in her gi, they collided much like they had all those nights ago, or last night if you wanted to look at it that way, when they'd traveled forward in time. They met each other's eyes from the floor and started to laugh as they stood up.

"I can't find Keith anywhere, have you seen him?" Allura asked, looking flushed and more than a bit antsy.

Lance pointed with his thumb behind him. "He's that way, he was just in my room. He may have headed toward yours."

"Oh. How, how did he seem?"

"Shocked. But he's into it. He asked me and my date tonight to be your chaperones."

"Oh, oh!" Allura jumped up and hugged him tightly.

Lance hugged her back, her happiness was contagious, he grinned into her hair. "You might want to let him ask you out though."

She giggled into his ear. "Oh, right," Lance let her go and she smiled up at him. "My room you think?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I'll look forward to seeing Lara, too."

"Quiana," Lance said making a face.

"Who?"

"The one I don't remember because it was so long ago for me, not just last night. Apparently we already made a date, I can't just cancel it. I'm going to interrogate her on Lara though. Which will make her not want me, and get me insight on how to woo Lara."

Allura made a face but then she shook her head. "Do what you think is right. I still want to chat at five, okay?"

"Of course," Lance said.

Allura nodded, then took off in almost run toward her bedroom. Lance smiled as he watched her take off, then he turned around and found himself face to face with a starry eyed Ione.

"Hi, Lance," she said, her cheeks red. "Uh, I, didn't know you'd be down this way so early today?"

Lance checked himself before he rolled his eyes at the situation. "Ione, I was looking for you."

"Oh! Okay!" She said, smiling and looking all hopeful.

Crap, Lance thought. He looked around, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the nearest room, which turned out to be a small storage room full of boxes and random cans. "Ione, look the thing is, you know the woman who was here this morning?"

"Lara Wyeth. Yes, she's awesome, I've seen her out in town, heard her talking. I wish I could be more like her."

Lance understood that, he had a feeling a lot of young Arusian women wished they could break the rules of their society as easily as Lara did it. He wasn't sure where Lara got the strength to do it himself, if he was honest. "Yeah, she's ballsy and that is the thing. I'm, I, after tonight, when I see this one last girl, to tell her what I'm about to tell you. I'm only going to be dating Lara, if she'll have me."

"Oh. OH!" Ione's face fell but then she recovered and held her chin up and nodded. "She is great, I don't blame you. Okay, I have to get back to work now," she said lightning fast and disappeared from the room.

Lance sighed but thought, that could have gone worse. Now he just had to go back to his room and tell Quiana she was double dating with the Princess of Arus. What was his life?


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Lance got to hand to hand combat before Keith and Allura. Pidge and Hunk were stretching out on the mat, waiting. Lance sat down, trying to get Quiana's freaked out scream to stop banging around in his head. When he told her that he had to change their plans she'd been open about it until he said, they'd be double dating with Commander Kogane and Princess Allura. He'd never been on the phone with someone who'd reached that decibel before, he was worried he may never hear out of his right ear correctly ever again. He fiddled with it and shook his head, Lara had shouted and freaked herself, but she hadn't literally screamed about meeting Allura. It was just Allura anyway, Princess or not, she was someone highly approachable.

Which is what he'd told Quiana about million times once she calmed down enough to be understandable and kept saying, she didn't know if she could date the princess. Which is what she kept saying, she was going to date the princess. Lance shook his head, she'd calmed down eventually though, and agreed to meet him at the Castle's kitchen door at seven o'clock.

"Where are the Princess and Keith?" Pidge asked.

Hunk stretched his hands over his head, after attempting to touch his toes, he never could seem to get the stretch he needed to do it. "Keith's usually already here by now?"

"They'll get here," Lance said, smiling a bit. He was happy for them, especially Allura because he knew how much it meant to her. You didn't watch someone face down an opposite future without batting eyelash and not understand how important her choice was to her.

"Whatcha smiling about, bad enough the Princess is walking around smiling all the time today. She's kinda starting to creep me out," Hunk said.

Pidge punched him in the arm. "I think she's pretty when she smiles, she's happy about something."

"What you growing two inches." Hunk laughed.

Lance sighed. "He grew more than two inches, Hunk, look at his ankles, his gi is way too short on him. We need to get you new clothes, kid."

The three of them looked at Pidges' ankles, and saw the five inches he'd grown in the past few months that no one had really noticed because it'd been going on under their noses. Lance didn't know how they'd missed it, it really shouldn't have taken him and Allura being gone to notice. He felt guilty about it, so he decided not to dwell on it all.

"Here comes Allura," Pidge said.

"Smiling," Hunk said.

"She's happy," Pidge said and punched Hunk in the arm again.

Lance winked at her when she got closed enough to see him and she blushed a deep deep pink. Then she noticed Pidge's gi and she sighed. "Oh my, we really do need to get you new clothes, Pidge. Maybe tomorrow we can go into town and do some shopping."

Pidge grinned. "That'd be great."

Allura gave him a kiss on the cheek and then turned to Lance and beamed at him some more about Keith. He finally grabbed her by the waist, which made her shriek and moved her to a spot. "Just don't move," he said. Then he dropped down to his back and laid there.

"What are you doing?" she said.

"You're beaming so hard, I thought maybe I could get a tan."

"Oh!" She kicked his foot.

Hunk and Pidge stared at them, too shocked by Lance manhandling the princess to say anything else. She'd shrieked, but she hadn't said don't touch me, or put me down, and then she had stood where he put her. They exchanged glances, more than once as they tried to figure it out.

"Okay, everyone," Keith finally arrived. "Sorry, I'm late. I had something really important to take care of and it took up some time before could I get back to my quarters to change."

Lance standing back up, noticed that of course Keith looked at Allura the whole time, shyly smiling before he forced himself to go into instruction mode for their hand to hand. He and Allura both exchanged a quick glance, both worried about how they were going to do with this, because like with the lions, they had kept up with their hand to hand training as well. Lance had also noticed like with the lions, Allura did better if she wasn't trying to be perfect to please Keith. That was what held her back the most, he thought.

"Okay yesterday we left off with Lance and Allura, I want to keep working on that. Go back to your stances."

Lance and Allura looked at each other, both of them pleading with the other to remember something, anything about what it was they were doing 'yesterday.' Lance had always prided himself on having a good memory, he remembered important facts about people, important events, funny stories, apparently the only vital event that happened yesterday was him and Allura going to the future and then coming back several minutes later with no one noticing. And yeah, he remembered that, he remembered waking up, and going into the light, and everything that happened after that. The day before he fell asleep in his bed with Lara, not so much. He glanced at Allura and she wasn't doing much better.

"Guys? We don't have all day?" Keith said, looking at them both like they'd grown two heads. Not for the first time today, either, Lance thought.

"I don't think they remember," Pidge said. "They look like people who have no idea what you are talking about. Lance looked like this morning when Lara mentioned the booby woman."

Hunk bust out laughing. "The booby woman?"

"I don't remember her name? I just remember a lot of talk about boobs. What, I'm fifteen?"

Keith held up a hand. "Do you two remember what we were going over yesterday?"

Allura shook her head and went to open her mouth but nothing came out. Keith walked over to her and took her hand in both of his. "Allura, look at me."

She looked up at him.

"Do you remember what we did yesterday during hand to hand combat training?"

Lance stood watching, his mind reeling, he was a master of getting himself out of tight spots. He had to be, he put himself into tight spots all the time, but he couldn't come up with anything at all. Nothing and Allura was looking at him again, sideways, but he saw those big eyes looking at him and he looked back at her feeling helpless. Keith looked over at him too and let out a frustrated growl of sorts.

"Stop looking at Lance at just tell me, Allura. Do you remember or not."

"I don't," she whispered.

"Do you remember yesterday's lion practice?" Keith asked.

Allura sighed and shook her head.

Keith then stared at Lance. "You. You don't remember either, do you? It's not just the girl from the bar, it's the practices, it's yesterday. Neither one of you remember yesterday."

"It's hazy," Lance said.

"Hazy or not there at all."

"Hazy," Lance said.

"Well, yeah that is true," Allura said. "It's hazy."

Hunk and Pidge both stepped up so they were standing next to Keith. "What do you think it means, Chief?" Hunk said.

"I don't know, I don't like it. You two are going to the medical bay, with me, now," Keith barked, he grabbed Allura's hand and started walking.

"Now he's all Princess grabby too," Pidge remarked.

Lance laughed but it was on the nervous side, this wasn't going to be good. Allura looked back at him and he tried to look reassuring and mouthed stick with the plan. But he didn't feel all that reassured at all because there wasn't going to be any explanation whatsoever for their arbitrary memory loss.

~~.~~

Keith paced the small examination room, where Allura sat her legs curled under her on the exam table watching him. Her eyes following from one end of the small room to the other. She was half smiling and half looked like she wanted to cry. Keith felt like a troll for putting sadness there but something had been nagging at him all day and now he knew. Neither Lance or Allura had been acting quite right because they didn't remember a whole day. A whole day, there had to be a reason, something had to be wrong. Haggar, maybe, she had some reason for making them forget something and it would come back wreck havoc on Arus. Keith couldn't allow that, he couldn't allow Allura - he couldn't allow Arus to be hurt by Doom, or that witch again.

"Where is Lance?" Allura asked, not for the first time. She kept asking, it was like she thought if she asked enough times he would finally answer her. Why did it matter where Lance was? He was in another exam room, Keith had ordered Hunk and Pidge to stay with him. He would stay with Allura. It was simple and it made sense.

"Why?" He finally asked. "Does it matter?"

Allura's eyes widened, then she got that look on her face she got when she was mad at him. Her chin poked out, her eyes narrowed and her voice got very regal as she spoke. "Because giving that we both seem to have the same thing happening to us, I would like to know what he is thinking. Is that so surprising!"

Keith stopped pacing and looked at her. "No. But no."

"What?"

"I think you and Lance did enough talking today. You two not remembering anything and keeping it a secret."

Allura sighed. "It wasn't like we forgot anything important."

"Training isn't important?"

"According to you I did better today than I did yesterday. Maybe yesterday was the problem and not today," Allura said.

Keith shook his head. "That makes no sense at all. Yesterday you remembered the day before, perfectly fine. No, something is wrong now."

"How was hand to hand yesterday?"

"Awful."

"Well, if you'd held it today it would've gone better. So, I think maybe the problem was yesterday. Maybe Lance and I had some 24 hour cold or something it threw us off yesterday, so it is foggy to us today. And today we are in better shape and better fighting condition."

"You sound just like him," Keith muttered, staring at her.

"I do?" she said her eyes widening.

"Yeah, you're talking out of your..." Keith couldn't say it out loud to her.

"Out of my what?"

"Out of your...your..."

"What?"

"You're sitting on it."

"Oh!" Allura stared at him and then she glared at him. "I am not talking out of my butt. Besides yesterday being hazy, I feel fine today, better than fine today. I feel great today and I would think you would too," she crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him.

Keith groaned and walked over and sat down next her on the table. "I am happy, I'm more than happy. I'm still a bit in shock. But I'm worried too, I want to make sure you are okay. I want to make sure Haggar didn't zap you with something and maybe Lance got in the way. If both of you are fuzzy about yesterday, something like that could've happened. We have to protect Arus."

"Of course we have to protect Arus. But if Haggar had done something she would've done something by now wouldn't she. Zarkon, Lotor and her aren't known for their patience."

Keith nodded but took her hand and squeezed. "I have to be sure."

The door opened and Dr. Gorma walked in. "Okay, what is the trouble, the nurse said something about Princess Allura and Lieutenant McClain both having trouble remembering yesterday?"

"Yes, sir," Keith said, quickly dropping Allura's hand and standing.

Dr. Gorma stood in front of Allura. "Princess if you will look into the light," he asked holding up a penlight to her eyes. "Okay, and say 'AH"," he said, and Allura did as he asked. Then he checked her ears and felt her throat. "Any headaches, any weird feelings, tingling sensations?"

"No," Allura said.

"Exactly what happens when you think about yesterday?"

"Uh," Allura opened her mouth, then closed a few times. "Well, honestly, it's like I'm trying to remember a day three weeks ago."

"Hmmm," Dr. Gorma said. "Interesting," he made a note. "Okay, I'm going to try something," he said and he pulled out a vial with a few pills in it.

Allura looked at it. "What is that?"

"It unlocks the memory, it's a very low dosage. It's had some luck on traumatic amnesia patients. I can't say why you have this random block, some sort of random virus, you had a bad day. But is strange. Now how this works, so you don't just get random memories from when you were four, is you think about the day you want to remember. Whatever you do remember from it. What do you remember from yesterday?"

"Reading in bed, before I went to sleep. An old book of Fairy Tales, Keith gave it to me, Grimm's Fairy Tales," Allura said, smiling and looking at Keith.

Keith felt face go warm and he fought not to turn away out of shyness and habit, he was allowed to look now, for a little bit anyway. Dr. Gorma would take it as worry for his teammate and the Princess.

"Okay, good, think about that, and wanting to know everything that came before that," Dr. Gorma handed her the pill.

Allura took it.

"It's chewable, tastes like bubblegum."

Allura laughed and put it in her mouth. "Oh, it does," she said.

"It should work right away if it will, in the next few minutes."

Keith found himself staring at Allura, watching her eyes. She looked focused on the wall behind Dr. Gorma's head but he had a feeling she was thinking about yesterday. Suddenly she went, "Oh!" and grabbed her head. Dr. Gorma pulled two more pills out of another bottle. "Yes, the headache is an unfortunate side effect. Do you remember?"

"Oh my god, I really did almost crash five times. I am such a chicken," Allura said. "And what a mess hand to hand was. I can do so much better, Keith, I can. I promise," she said looking up at him.

Keith smiled. "Do you remember anything else, anything that might explain why this happen?"

Allura shook her head. "No, sorry," she said.

Keith stared at her, she smiled back. He couldn't help but smile with her. She must really not have had anything bad happen to her. "I guess you should do the same with Lance, Gorma," Keith said.

"I will, go do that now."

"I want to go with you," Allura said hopping down from the table.

"Allura?" Keith said.

"I want him to know it's fine," she said.

Keith nodded. "Doctor, why do you think this happened to them?"

"I really am stumped. Sometimes flukey things just happen, Commander. Even us doctors can't solve them all."

Keith didn't like it, but he couldn't do much about, so he decided to just accept it. At least he knew Allura was fine, she was safe, no one had messed with her mind at all. Maybe she was right, they should see how it went with Lance, Keith should cover all their bases.

~~.~~

Allura walked into the examination room after Dr. Gorma, Lance saw her and gave her a questioning look. She nodded at him and mouthed. "Go with the semi-truth," since both Pidge and Hunk had their noses in an anatomy book and weren't paying attention.

"Okay, Lance, let's see if your symptoms match the Princess, as in as you have no symptoms at all," Dr. Gorma said as he quickly checked his eyes, ears, and throat. Lance saying 'AH' on cue thanks to years of medical check ups thanks to the Garrison. "Yep, no symptoms. Now, tell me when you try to remember yesterday what is it like?"

Allura nodded.

"It's hard to explain, it's like if someone asked me to tell what I did Tuesday last month," Lance said. "Now if Tuesday last month there was a Robeast attack, I could tell you. But if that didn't happen, I've got nothing."

Allura could feel Keith, she looked back and he was standing behind her. She smiled at him and then heard Dr. Gorma explaining the pill to Lance. Then she added. "It gives you a headache, he doesn't mention that part until you have it."

Lance laughed.

"So. Lance," Dr. Gorma said. "Yesterday what is it you do remember?"

"Uh, the only clear memory is being with Lara in my bedroom laughing, he said.

Allura smiled but she kept getting this weird nagging feeling whenever Lance brought up Lara. Like he was going to get hurt, or Lara wasn't good enough, or wasn't right for him. She didn't know what it was, she'd been kind of in awe of Lara. She wish she had the boldness to say no to the Arusian traditions that she herself felt were too old fashioned for today.

"Okay, think of that moment, then the want to remember both before and after it, and as you chew and swallow this pill. And I'll give you aspirin once the headache hits."

Lance nodded, he started chewing and Allura watched him focus on his hands and she wondered if she'd looked that faraway as she tried to focus on hazy details of such a far away day. Then suddenly Lance jumped in his skin, "Ow, ow, the headache, Allura you could have said it was stabbing."

"Oh, sorry, yeah it's stabbing," she said, laughing.

"Man, you sucked at flying yesterday," he said, and he winked at her.

She stuck her tongue at him.

"Did you remember the boobs?" Pidge asked.

Everybody laughed.

Lance got up off the table and ruffled Pidge's hair. "Yes, I remembered the boobs."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Lance pulled on his leather jacket, opened his door and stopped short when he saw Keith standing there holding two shirts in front of him. "Keith?"

"Where are you going? Aren't you getting ready?"

"Dude, it's almost five, six minutes until? The date is at seven, and I have somewhere to be in six minutes."

"What a pre-date, date?"

Lance smirked. "Yes, exactly, it's a pre-date, date."

Keith stared at him. "With who?"

"Allura," Lance said, as glibly as he could. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to go meet her." He pushed passed Keith into the hallway and thought for a minute that he'd broken free of the moment completely when a hand, still holding a black dress shirt slipped tightly grabbed his forearm.

"You are crushing the leather?" Lance said.

Keith let go. "Seriously, you're going to the garden?"

"Yeah," Lance said. "She asked me more than once to meet her there today. Going there."

Keith looked grim and then he just shook his head. "She's going to be all weird and friendly with you whether I like it or not isn't she?"

Lance smirked at him and nodded. "Sorry, buddy."

"Yeah, whatever, just, please, tell me which shirt?" Keith said, holding up the black dress shirt and then a white one.

"Seriously, now you're asking me for dating advice?"

"Lance?"

"The white one, with a pair of those black pants that are too tight that you hate wearing. She'll love it."

Keith stared at him. "I should wear pants that are too tight?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "Seriously, the girl is all about your ass, when she's not about your eyes and your personality."

Keith turned red and then he stammered something that was incoherent and possibly in Japanese, then he got his command face on and spat out. "Do not talk with Allura about my ass." Spun on his heel and walked back to his own room.

Maybe a few dates with Allura would unwind him a bit on sex, Lance thought. He knew Keith had had sex but for someone who wasn't a Christian he sure did act Puritanical at times. Lance walked down the hall toward the entrance to the back garden, Allura's gardens, shot down the back steps and made his way over to the bench. The sun was just starting to set so it was still rather bright out, Arus had seasons that matched Earth's Northern Hemisphere, so the Arus summer was ending and the autumn was beginning.

Allura was sitting on the bench already, but she was facing the lake, instead of her mother's roses. He walked over and sat down on the bench, facing the lake, next to her. "Nice to see the lake again, not just hear it gurgle behind us from time to time."

Allura nodded. "I kind of do miss the tree, it was from earth wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was like a tree from my parents house back home."

"Future us must have had it planted, I guess," Allura said. "Maybe Keith and I can do bamboo, or another tree?" she wrinkled her nose. "I don't know, that seems like copying."

Lance shrugged. "It's up to you, Allura."

"We sucked today at acting like nothing happened to us. I think Keith accepted Dr. Gorma thinking it was just some weird virus we were both just susceptible too."

"We lucked out there. If we just could have remembered our fight stances," Lance laughed. "Today was tough but from now on it shouldn't be too bad."

"True."

"You wanted me to see stuff?"

"I keep putting myself through this, I figure you get to share," Allura laughed. "Daddy's Prophecies. The full one the five of you coming and saving us, it even mentions Sven's injury and how when he returns to us, he reunites Arus with it's twin planet. They are so truthful, it's hard to ignore, like the fact you did know who went in what Lion."

"I still think our choices matter."

"Right, the book about Seers, they used to be abundant on Arus. I haven't heard of any since the wars. I wonder if they are hiding? Here this passage, it says it's all about choices. Paraphrasing it says those things others may call set in stone, or destiny are just a series of choices by people involved that led to the event. A perfect thread of choices, it's rare, only the most gifted of seers would see such rare gems. It says choices change the future all the time. It is always fluid based on choice."

"Good, then we have nothing to lose by making our choices, do we?" Lance said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

She moved into him. "After the section on Sven it mentions me taking over for Blue Lion, how I am and always was it's truest Pilot."

"Knew that, you've proven that, Allura."

Allura smiled. "Thank you," she sighed and pulled a scroll out of the sleeve of her dress. "Then it goes on to tell of the great love of my life and shows this."

Lance felt his throat go dry. "This is what you father told you about when he tucked you in, the guy who would steal you away."

Allura nodded.

Lance opened the scroll and saw him and Allura at an alter, hands held together, gazing into each other's eyes. It was obviously a wedding. Keith was standing behind Lance, at the altar looking happy for them, beside him was Sven. Hunk and Pidge were further back but standing up as well. Allura had Romelle beside her, and a woman he didn't recognize.

"Well, uh, hmm."

"There is one more. This one is confusing."

"And this isn't confusing to you?" Lance said looking at how the drawn Lance and Allura looked at each other, all that love, he wasn't even sure she looked at Keith like that, yet... She did need to get to know him better, fall in real love with him and not teenaged crush love with him.

"Well, yeah, but I've gotten used to that confusion," Allura admitted.

She pulled another scroll out of her other sleeve. "Here," Lance took the new one and gave her back their wedding picture, of all things. "Hey, by the way thanks for not telling me what it said about our wedding."

"It was more bad poetry, I know you hate that."

"Ugh," Lance shook his head and opened the newer scroll.

A very young woman appeared, holding what appeared to be two swords that were of fire, she looked fierce and determined. She held one sword at Keith's throat and another at Lance's. Underneath it, thankfully in the prose of Seer Altea, the one Lance liked, she or he, didn't do bad poetry had simply written:

"_This keeps coming to me, nothing else, except the distinct impression she is there to save the life of the most loved people in her life. But the fear is will First Voltron Force believe her story? It feels displaced, unexpected. This worries me. I hope they trust her, after this first unsettling meeting. She's not scared for herself however she petrified, she has a greater fear._"

"That's unsettling."

"She's beautiful," Allura said. "And she looks like she could kill you both."

"She looks scared, she can't be what more than sixteen?"

"I don't know what to think of it but I don't know about sharing it with everyone Lance. It feels...I think they'd ask too many questions about why I went down to the prophecies."

Lance nodded. "We'll just keep a look out, if it comes up, we'll talk about it then, okay?"

Allura nodded and carefully took it back, pushing it up her sleeve.

"What else do you hide up there?"

"Handkerchiefs, mostly," she said.

"Huh," he looked out the water and enjoyed the cool breeze coming off of it.

Allura moved closer into him.

"Cold?"

"A little."

"Want the jacket?"

"No, I should go. I need to put the prophecies back in their hidey-hole. And go get ready."

Lance laughed thinking about Keith. "Keith's getting ready as we speak."

Allura sat up, grinning. "Really. Was he nervous, did he look nervous!"

"Yeah," Lance said. "He's never dated much, you know. He's the monogamous type."

Allura kissed Lance on the cheek. "I'm nervous too but it's exciting. It's really exciting. I'll see you there," she said, and hopped up off the bench and took off.

Lance watched her go and wished he was half as excited for tonight as his two best friends. He remembered Quiana now, he'd asked her out all right, for a night of fun and sex. Nothing more, Quiana was in it for nothing more herself. She wanted to sleep with a Voltron Force member, he didn't mind being used if the girl was fun enough and hot enough. The problem was that was a month ago.

Now he wanted more. He sighed and stood up and walked back up to his room to get ready for the most boring date of his life where he was about to do a girl something he'd vowed never to do one. Talk about the girl he really wanted to get with the whole time. He shook his head, he was going to commit a dating no-no on purpose. When people called him crazy, maybe they were onto something.

~~.~~

Allura checked herself in her full length mirror, she'd chosen the simplest of her dresses, it was a pale pale pink, almost white so Allura could fool herself into thinking she'd chosen to wear white for the evening. It's skirt was of course a bit fuller, than she wished it be, but it was the fashion for young princesses, according to Nanny and Coran. The top was simple with shorter sleeves than she usually wore, which is what warranted it a special occasion dress in Nanny's estimation. The top almost reminded her of a few of the soft cotton simple t-shirts she'd worn in the future, only it was made of silk, had beautiful pink embroidery on it and shimmered a bit a in the light, as did the skirt.

She'd decided to wear her hair down, even the two braids she usually wore pulled back, she'd taken out for the occasion and she'd taken off her usual daily worn tiara and put on a thinner, silver circlet with a bright blue sapphire in the center. She wanted at least something on that was her favorite color for this night, her most special night, the first date of many nights to come. The first night of her forever with Keith.

Carefully, she slipped her feet into the shoes she wore for special balls, they made her feel taller, older, more beautiful and she wanted to look radiant inside and out for Keith. She pressed her lips together a few more times, hoping to make them look pinker and sighed for the fact Nanny and Coran wouldn't allow her any make up. Of this one fact she knew they were lying to her, she knew damn well Princesses could wear make up, but they just wouldn't stop treating her like she was twelve. Maybe Lance would smuggle her in some? He totally would, she thought, she'd have and be using it for weeks, before they noticed and then they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She wanted to look her best for Keith.

Giddy, she opened her door and tried not to run down the hallways, to the recreation area which Keith had cornered off for their date tonight, she looked at the time. She was five minutes late, so not too late and definitely not too early. She hoped, she didn't want to seem to eager, even if she was. So very, very eager. The door was closed, and locked. She typed in the normal code and it didn't budge, so she hit the chime on it.

Keith opened the door a moment later, smiled a bit too brightly, he looked adorably nervous she thought and he looked left and right. "Lance and Quiana aren't here yet."

Allura laughed. "So?"

"So, you really can't come in yet," Keith said, shaking his head. "We can't be alone on our dates."

"Keith it will be for a few minutes, and we've sat alone in this room this room for longer in the past."

"Yeah, but it wasn't..." Keith trailed off as he spotted Hunk walking past the room. "Hunk, come in here for a minute."

Hunk was holding a tray of food. "Uh, Keith I have a movie set up in my room..."

"It's just for a minute," Keith spat out.

"But,"

"It's an order."

"Keith!" Allura shook her head. "You can't order him to chaperone us."

"Sure I can," Keith said. "No, I can't," he said defeated.

"Okay, I'll do it for a minute," Hunk said.

"Thank you," they both said in unison.

Walking into the room Allura took it in and was amazed. "Did you do all this, Keith?" it'd been cleaned up, nothing was out of place like it usually was, and the furniture had been rearranged so two love seats where side by side facing the big television set, where the two couples were going to watch a movie. By the large windows that held the view of the lake, was a table set up with their dinner, with candles and flowers. "Nanny helped," Keith said. "But I told her what I wanted."

"She really helped?" Hunk said, beating Allura to it.

Allura nodded her agreement with the question to Keith though.

Keith nodded, then turned around and walked across the room to a smaller table. Allura's eyes fell down to his ass, he was wearing her favorite pair of black pants that he barely ever wore. It had to be a good sign, she thought, she loved those pants. When he turned around he was holding something behind his back. "Hunk, could you," he pointed with his chin to the corner of the room.

"Right, silently chaperone, from over there," Hunk said, walking with his tray over to the corner. "Just pretend I'm not here."

Allura giggled, it was all a little ridiculous but she didn't care, she loved it. Keith had spent time with Nanny, working with her to set up a date with her. He'd planned and thought it out, all for them. He had a present or something for her behind his back. He walked up to her, he was blushing a little bit she noticed and his eyes found hers. They were all dark and intense, like always but held that special spark of warmth she always felt and saw when she looked up into them. It was a spark she knew was just for her, her spark. She smiled up at him.

"You look beautiful."

"You look very handsome."

Keith cleared his throat. "I, uh, I got these for you," he presented her a bouquet of pink Arusian Lilies and Pink Earth Roses, mixed together. Allura felt fuzzy inside because it was the first time any man had gotten her flowers just for her being her. For the first time in a long time, she remembered why pink was a color to enjoy. She felt a bit dizzy with the warmth she was feeling, had to grip onto the flowers before she could find her voice, to say, "Thank you, Keith. I love them."

"Smooth," Hunk said from the corner.

Allura turned and smiled at him, showing him the flowers better. "Aren't they pretty."

"Hey, no talking to him," Keith said. "He's the silent temporary chaperone. Where the hell is Lance?"

Allura watched in amusement as Keith looked at his watch. "Dinner is set to be served at 7:15 on the dot."

"On the dot?" she asked.

Keith nodded. "I planned everything out so each minute would be accounted for, and everyone would be busy, with what they should be busy with."

"So you will be busy with me," Allura said, leaning up on her toes to whisper it into Keith's ear. She watched how it made him blush and shivered a bit.

He grabbed her hand, shook his head and lead her over to where he had laid out a collection of movies. "Here, I was going to let both you and Quiana choose, but since she is late. I picked out a few romantic comedies from Earth for you to choose from."

"Chick flicks," Hunk coughed into his hand.

~~.~~

Lance was leaning against the wall to the castle, staring at the path that lead to the door to the castle kitchens and looking at his watch every two minutes. Where the hell was she? Keith was going to kill him, it was getting close to ten past seven, he finally heard footsteps, and looked up expecting to see a hot little black-haired beauty with amazing cleavage but instead he saw Lara.

Lara in an amazing blue silk cocktail dress, her hair all looped in some bizarre knot of engineering feat some hairdresser must have done, and she was carrying a bottle of something in her right hand.

"That better not be fruit wine."

"It's tequila," she said.

"Thank god," he said, reaching out taking it for her. "Not, that I'm not happy to see you, because I am happy to see you, but uh why am I seeing you?"

"Because Quiana couldn't handle the pressure, she fainted after we got her in her dress at the very thought of double dating with the Princess, being the presence of the two hottest voltron force members. Also I couldn't get her to stop saying she was dating the princess, I think she might be hot for Allura too."

Lance raised a bow, thought about it, and smirked at Lara. "Well, you know me, Keith and Allura, that is a lot of hot in one room."

"You are so full of yourself you know that," Lara said.

He grabbed her hand, "Like you don't think it too."

She kept quiet but he saw her mouth twitch, she didn't pull her hand out of his grip and she kept up with his pace as he hurried her through the castle. "What is up with this double date thing anyway?"

"Keith isn't allowed to be alone with the Princess, and we're late, so lord knows what's going on. Wouldn't be shocked if he's making her wait in the hallway."

"You're kidding."

"Guys a boy scout."

"Seriously?"

"Well, no, he never joined them, but metaphorically."

"She's not in the hallway," Lara said, since they stopped.

"Either he's actually going to bend the rules some, or he ordered someone who walked by to play chaperone," Lance said as he typed in the code Keith had informed of him thirty minutes ago.

The door slide open.

"Finally!" Keith said, "Greek chorus over there can leave."

"Will you be nice, I found his suggestions helpful," Allura said.

Hunk picked up his tray and walked across the room. "It was honor to be your temporary chaperone on your first date, Princess." he kissed her cheek. Allura kissed his cheek as well.

Hunk looked at Keith and shook his head. Then as he walked by Lance and Lara, and he shook his head again. "He is pissy when he's nervous," he said lowly. "Pissy,"

"What was that," Keith yelled.

"He's saying Allura is pretty," Lance said, "Which you are by the way, I like that dress, almost white?"

"Thank you," Allura said then she walked over to him and Lara. "I love your dress Lara, I love that shade of blue, royal right?"

"Yes," Lara said. "I'll be giving it back to the store tomorrow, hopefully, if I don't stain it."

Allura looked confused. "I don't understand."

"Oh, I can't afford this thing, so I'm going to return it tomorrow, get my money back or store credit. Buy some more common sense items. I learned the trick on some old Earth sitcom."

"It's 7:20, we already should be eating," Keith muttered.

Lance looked at Allura. "Is he serious?"

Allura nodded and went back over to her date. "It's fine to be a little behind schedule, we still have plenty of night left. Let's sit," she led him over to the table.

Lance and Lara followed, Lance set the bottle of tequila down on the table. Keith took one look of it and grabbed it and put it under the table and shook his head. "I don't think so," he said.

Allura moved her chair as close as she could to Keith, but she looked around at the three of them. "What was the bottle?"

"Tequila," said Lance and Lara.

"Nothing important."

"Oh tequila! Can I try some," she said looking right at Lance.

"Why are you asking him?" Keith all but whined.

"Because it's his," Allura said.

"No, it's not," Lara said. "I brought it for you, Princess, traditionally you bring something for your host. This is your castle, so you are the hostess. It's your tequila."

Lance sat back in his chair moved his eyes to Keith.

Keith shook his head. "Allura, I don't think you should try anything alcoholic, let alone, tequila."

Allura nodded. "Fine, but I would see the bottle please."

Keith picked the bottle up from the floor and put it back on the table near the centerpiece of Arusian Lilies. Allura looked at it and smiled. "Thank you, Lara. Though I'm afraid, Keith's right, I won't get to drink it. Lance it's all yours."

"Thanks," Lance said.

"Can I try some?" Allura said with a wink.

Lance bust out with a belly laugh, he loved Allura's sense of humor, both of them were looking at Keith though and he was breaking, his mouth was twitching, he was going to break. Lara even moved forward, her elbows on the table, and Lance caught her looking from Allura to Keith. Allura, put her hand on top of Keith's.

"Keith if Lance lets me have, one what are they called shot hole of tequila? It's not like I'll get drunk, right?" she asked in one of her more innocent voices, trying to push him over the edge.

It was too much Keith finally bust out laughing, shaking his head. "I give up, I just give up. You, you might make me die of an ulcer or premature old age or something," he laughed, looking at Allura with the smile he always gave her, that half-shy, half-moon-eyed smile. Lance was just happy that it was directed completely at her for once, and not furtively being hidden behind a book or a newspaper.

Allura beamed up at him. "Finally, laughter, been wanting to hear that all day. You've been so moody. Now what are we eating!"

"Right, we are really behind, I hope it's still warm," Keith said and he picked up a bell and rang it.

Lance stared at the bell. "A bell?"

Nanny suddenly appeared with a trolley with four plates on it, Lance had to keep his mouth shut. When they'd walked up to the door, and then inside, he had to admit he'd been shocked not to see Nanny anywhere. Thinking it impossible that she'd not have her eyes or ears, somewhere on Allura on her first date. She had to disapprove somewhat of Keith but that she was helping was good. Nanny quietly, to his amazement and from the look on her face, Allura's placed the food on the table in front of the four them and then gave them each a glass of something with bubbles.

Then she disappeared behind the door she came from, which Lance knew led to an empty room, usually. "She has the food in the empty room?"

"She turned it into a free style kitchen of sorts, tonight," Keith explained. "I think she can only hear the bell, and she promised to be quiet. She really wanted to see you on your date after she read me and Coran the riot act. She disapproves."

Allura sighed. "I'll hear it tomorrow, but it doesn't matter, she won't change my mind."

"She knows," Lance said. "Otherwise she wouldn't be helping, maybe she won't yell at you."

"Oh that's worse, she'll give the I am disappointed in you Allura, I thought you agreed with Arusian Traditions speech."

Lara nodded. "Oh my grandmother does that one me often," she took a sip of the drink. "Oh, pomegranate seltzer water, and what kind of fish is this?"

"Salmon, herb encrusted," Keith said.

"It's delicious," Allura said, "Thank you."

Lance nodded as he put another bite into his mouth, and glanced over at Lara, she was eating, she seemed at ease, this could turn out to be a good date after all. Now he wished he'd dressed to impress instead of dressed to simply look presentable. He glanced across the table, Allura was beaming, Keith was still smiling and they were talking to each other lowly between bites of their meal. It was what Keith had wanted, Lance leaned over and whispered into Lara's ear. "They're sweet?"

Lara leaned over and whispered, "Surgary." Then bit his earlobe playfully. He grinned at her, put a hand on her thigh, pulled his chair closer to her and stuck his fork in his last piece of salmon. His eyes caught Allura's as she glanced over at him, she gave him a quick questioning glance about Lara, and he nodded subtly. She grinned, and then instantly fell back into forgetting he was in the room.


	16. Chapter 16

Authors Note: While I have given Keith a past that is close to his past in the Devil's Due Comics, it isn't that past, so it's a different woman and a different backstory of losing her.

Chapter Sixteen

By the time they'd finished their salmon, Keith's nerves and slight anger at Lance and Lara being late had subsided. All he could see and hear was Allura. Beautiful, sweet, perfect Allura. She kept looking up at him with those eyes of hers that he felt saw him in ways no one else ever had, saw more of him. Knew him better than anyone else, ever had, and understood why he lived by the moral codes that he did. She had own codes of honor, her own reasons for having them and that was why she understood; he wasn't destined to be the Queen of a planet though, but he was the leader of Voltron Force, the Black Lion pilot. He felt like it was a role he'd been destined to have, to hold, and he took the responsibility seriously and he knew she knew that about him.

He felt that it was part of why they were so drawn together, they both cared so much about what was right, doing what was right and fighting against what was wrong and stopping people like Zarkon and his despicable son. Not that he wanted to be thinking of that right now, he really wasn't, it was all fleeting thoughts as he held her hand and they paid no attention whatsoever to the movie that was the big screen television in the room. Allura had questions, things she'd been holding inside and now she wanted answers and she had the chance to ask the questions now without having to come up with an excuse. Her enthusiasm was endearing and he found himself just wanted to cup her face and kiss her, but he knew he couldn't. Shouldn't, not yet anyway.

Part of his agreement with Coran had been to go slow, to get to know Allura better as a friend and a woman, to truly court her at the snails pace Coran would expect and Prince to follow. Keith really wondered if any Prince would really go as slow, but since he wasn't a Prince, and he was being allowed the shot to be with the only woman to spark his interest since he'd lost Ashley, he felt he had to follow the rules. Allura was worth following the rules.

"When did you know you wanted to be a pilot?" Allura asked, after asking him the most questions he'd ever faced about his love for martial arts.

He grinned as he thought about flying Black Lion and how the flying bug had led him to here, to Black and to her. "My Uncle flew, he had this old fashioned bi-plane, he used to take me up in her and let me take over the controls. It was how he helped me deal with my grief for my parents, it was...really freeing. I always knew no matter what I ended up doing I wanted flying to be part of it."

Allura's expression changed to one of complete empathy at the mention of his parents. Empathy and comprehension, an understanding that only someone who had lost her parents at such an young age as well could have. It wasn't something he liked having in common with her, and the reasons weren't as awfully horrible for him. An accident had taken him away, not a war and evil, like hers. He squeezed her hand to let her know it was okay, he wasn't sad talking about it.

"Some of my favorite times with my uncle were the days we up in that red bi-plane of his, I think that is why red is my favorite color, actually," Keith admitted.

Allura nodded. "Good, I didn't want to make you sad our first date."

"You could never make me sad, Allura," Keith whispered to her, leaning down closer, wanting to kiss her but instead he put his forehead against hers and touched her cheeks with his hands.

Allura's eyes held a strange expression suddenly, yet she smiled and nodded in his grip and whispered back to him. "I'm going to do everything I can to not, I promise."

"How could you?" I asked, shaking my head at her. She was the sweetest woman I've ever met. "Your the kindest person I've met Allura. The only people you've ever said a harsh word against are Lotor and Zarkon. You even tried to help Haggar, that time. We both did, I still feel..."

"Used. I feel used on that one. She didn't have to strength to keep her good side alive, she let the evil take over," Allura sighed. "I'm sorry. It hurts to know that can happen to someone."

"And that is why you are the sweetest, kindest soul I know," Keith said.

Allura blushed.

"Tell me something I don't know about you, Allura, please?" Keith asked, she'd been asking him, he wanted to know more about her.

Allura smiled. "What do you want to know?"

Keith shrugged. "Anything, everything?"

Allura laughed and her hand came up to push some of his hair off his face, Keith realized out of his eyes. He smiled and she blushed. "That's a lot of things, Keith, give me a subject?"

"Okay, uh, Coran and Nanny make you study a million things what is your favorite subject?"

"Prophecy," Allura whispered and then she suddenly pulled back from him, and crossed her arms over her chest, her breathing quickened.

"Allura?" Keith moved closer to her again, taking her hand in his. "What is it? You seem upset but..." She had just told him that prophecy was her favorite subject not her least favorite right?

Allura let out a long breath, followed by a giggle. "Sorry. But yeah, I've always loved Prophecy, because it's about Arusian Faith, and my father was a strong believer in it. Plus, I always believed in the prophecy that would bring Five Men to Arus to bring back Voltron and save Arus from destruction. The one you, Lance and the others fulfilled. It came true, it was real, and it's rare and beautiful. Also, I've always been told my intuition is higher than most, and I've had some dreams that seemed to be portents, not that I knew it while I had them. Never really figured anything out until after. The problem is Nanny and Coran can only give me books. Since my father's death, there have been nothing from any Seers. I wonder if they are afraid, or if they are all gone. Maybe Zarkon wiped them out."

"We could look," Keith offered. "Put out an announcement, maybe they are afraid they wouldn't be welcome, Allura? You could let them know they'd be welcome."

"No!" Allura nearly shouted, then she covered her mouth. "I mean, no, sorry. I guess I'm a little afraid of learning what I'm capable of," she said.

"Want to think about it?" Keith said.

"Yeah, I'll think about it."

"I didn't realize that the prophecies were so connected to Arusian Faith, the few times I've attended church services with you, they've not been mentioned."

"The Priests no longer have a Seer working with them, they worked together, with Scriptures, past traditions and current portents of Seers to give hope and warning. It was an interesting system, sometimes a scary one, especially when Zarkon first started attacking. The portents of the seers were never hopeful back then," Allura frowned.

"We can change the subject," Keith offered, wanting to see her smile back. "What is your least favorite subject, you can rant at me about it?"

Allura grinned at him. "Statistics. Needed because I need know it for diplomatic purposes of shipments on and off planet, and between the continents of Arus. All the farming produce, and blah blah blah. I really hate numbers. Diplomacy is easy, languages I pick up easily, but the statistics, horrible. Nanny says she doesn't know what to do with me."

"I could help you," Keith said. "I'm pretty good with numbers, not as good as Pidge, of course. But I am good at them."

"You would tutor me?" Allura asked, all innocence and batting eyelashes.

"Sure," he grinned, scolding himself for finding her word choice sexier than hell, and evocative. He wasn't even sure why, he was sure it had something to do with something Lance had told him at some point. Yet, he had only himself to blame for sensual and sexual visions in his mind.

"You're wonderful," Allura said, and wrapped her arms around him in a thankful hug.

Keith hugged her back, as carefully as he could while hiding his bodies reaction to her. He did bury his nose into her hair though, breathing in the unique Arusian flowery scent that was her shampoo, someday he'd find out what to call it. Until then, maybe forever the smell would be Allura to him.

~~.~~

Lance jolted up from where he was kissing Lara's neck when he heard Allura's sharp no, from the other love seat, he glanced over, feeling confused because that was the last thing he'd expect to hear from over there. Not from sweet Allura and good boy Keith.

He watched, quiet and eagle eyed, from the light of the television, saw Allura start to apologize and caught the word prophecies and he almost shouted 'no' himself. Then he felt a hand on his neck, he looked back down, saw Lara's amused eyes and she asked. "Is the good boy being bad?"

"Uh, no," Lance said.

"Good. So, will you start being a bad boy again, please?"

Lance smirked at her, lowered himself back down over her, started to kiss her neck again. Lara moved to give him more accessed, then wrapped her legs around his hips under him. "When can we go to your room," she whispered.

"When the movie ends," he muttered, he said thrusting into her nearly against his will. "Can we go out again next week?" he asked between kisses against her long neck.

Lara's hands came up and pushed against his chest until they looking at each eye to eye. "That's the fifth time you have asked. Is my no, not getting through?"

Lance sighed. "I want to see you, again, anything wrong with that?"

"Why?" Lara asked.

"I like you, I like spending time with you, I want to spend more time with you?" Lance said, his mind going at full speed, what should he say to her to make her see how serious he was about this. "I'm tired of the one night stand thing, Lara? Aren't you, we make a great team, don't we? In and out of bed."

She stared at him for a long time, then shoved at him again hard. He moved off of her, she slid off the couch and grabbed her high heels. "I going home now," she announced really loudly and then all but sprinted out of the room.

"Lara!" Lance yelled after her, pissed because she'd made it out of them room before he realized she was gone, because he couldn't leave it.

Allura and Keith were both looking at him from their love seat.

"What did you do?" Keith asked.

"Are you okay?" Allura asked.

Lance threw up his hands and at the same time Castle sirens started blasting and Coran's voice was on the sound system. "Voltron Force to the Control Room, Doom Attack."

All three of them then sprinted out of the room. But Lance didn't run toward the control room, Keith yelled after him. "Where are you going?"

"I"m not letting her run out there during an attack?"

Keith nodded. "Just hurry it up."

Lance nodded his understanding but didn't stop his run after where Lara had gone, she could run fast but he was faster, so her hard start didn't matter much. He caught up with her in the kitchen, where it looked like she had paused confused by the sirens. She saw him though and threw open the door to the backstairs. He lunged forward and grabbed her arm.

"No, there is an attack, you're staying in the Castle. Until it's over, at least. Don't argue," Lance snapped.

Lara glared at him.

"Whatever," Lance growled at her, and dragged her with him toward the control room. When he saw the robeast on the screen he paled, it was twice as big as usual, it was shooting out ice at the lions and Black and Green frozen in the air. Allura and Hunk so far were still dodging it but barely.

"Don't let her leave, Coran," Lance muttered as Coran hit the button to open up his chute to his lion.

"Of course not," Coran said, as if the idea of letting someone out there would ever occur to him.

"Keith, I'm on my way," Lance said, the first thing he planned to do was freeing Keith and Pidge, until he heard Allura scream on the comm.

"Allura!" Both he and Keith yelled.

Lance hit buttons and pulled up Allura's location she was in a damn free fall tail spin right toward another one of Arus's volcanoes. "Allura, pull up," he shouted.

"I'm trying," she shouted back. "I can't, get the altimeter,"

"Slam the brakes, pull all the way up veering to the left and push for full speed."

"No! Lance she can't handle that."

"Do it, Allura," Lance yelled.

"Allura, focus on the altimeter and then pulling the lion back into control."

Lance kept pushing towards Allura, he didn't say anything else, he knew Allura would chose to listen to him or Keith and if she picked Keith, he had to be there to fall into the volcano and hopefully pull her out of the fire on time.

He watched as Blue slammed to a complete sudden stop for all of two seconds before the free fall spin kept it falling, but then he watched as Allura pushed into high speed and ended up looping in the air towards the left and missing the volcano by an inch.

"Can you get control, now?" Lance asked.

"Got it," she said.

"Help Hunk, keep the thing at bay while I free Keith and Pidge," Lance said, breathing a sigh of relief she trusted him.

"Damn it, she got lucky," Keith muttered.

"No, she's a good pilot," Lance muttered as he came up to Keith's lion and blasted him with heat. "Maybe someday you should acknowledge that," Lance added on a private line.

"She should have gotten out of it the right way, not the crazy risky way."

"She was spinning to fast, sometimes you can't trust the gauges in a fast spin, and you know it, you have trust the lion and she knows that. She'd listened to you she'd have crashed into the volcano."

"Go free Pidge, so we can form Voltron," Keith said.

"Okay, boss," Lance said.

As soon as Pidge was free, Allura's voice came over the communications. "Did you catch Lara before she went outside?"

"Yeah," Lance said.

"Good."

"Cut the chatter, get ready to form Voltron," Keith said.

~~.~~

Allura's heart was in her throat, she needed to see Lance, she needed to say what was on her mind about how when they were gone did that mean Keith, Hunk and Pidge had fought that robeast, alone? How could they have survived it without Red Lion? She was shaking because it, not because of her own close call, but because of the idea of the other three out there alone with them. Did it happen? She couldn't help thinking about it, because they'd been gone on this day in her mind, it was so hard to wrap her mind around it.

A hand grabbed her wrist and she turned, hoping it was Lance but found herself staring into Keith's worried dark eyes. She melted a bit inside, seeing how much he cared about her, how much she mattered to him. She smiled. "Hi," she said.

"You shouldn't have done that crazy move."

"It worked, the gauges, Keith my intuition said I couldn't trust them," she explained.

"Did Lance tell you to say that?"

Allura stared at him confused. "Of course not, I haven't seen him yet since we landed."

"How did you pull that off?" Keith shook his head.

Allura shrugged, thinking about the last month of one on one training with Lance, and of secretly reading the books Lia had given her. The books Lance had written telling the secrets of every lion. The second Lance had become King in the future it turned out all the Lions would fly for him, and he flew them all, to find out what they were all like. When Lia had told him he was final word on flying them, she'd been telling the truth. Allura had read the books, but she'd practically memorized the book on Blue. Wanting to be a better pilot, needing to be a better pilot.

"I trusted what Lance told me, and I listened to Blue," Allura said. "You know that if you trust the Lion it will trust you back."

Keith nodded, he did know that, it was true. "Just, Lance can push people to far, just be careful."

Allura nodded and stepped into Keith, hugging him. "Thank you for caring so much about me."

"Hey, hey," Lance's voice called from behind them, walking into the room. "You two aren't supposed to be alone and touching," he laughed.

Allura pulled back from the hug, gave Keith a look that she hoped he understood said give me a minute and she ran up to Lance. As she fell into step beside him, Lance glanced at her and he looked around and then turned a corner, she followed him and they stopped in the empty hallway.

Lance held up a hand to stop her from talking.

"But," she managed.

"It didn't happen without us. We are here, so it doesn't matter what may or may not have occurred when we weren't. It didn't happen. We are here."

Allura nodded but her head felt spun. "It's complicated."

"Only if we let it be. We are here. Just focus on that. We weren't gone, we are here."

Allura let out a breath and inside she wished it was as easy as the words he was saying. "What happened with Lara?"

"I think I freaked her out with my idea of us being couple," Lance muttered.

"Why would that freak her out?" Allura asked.

"Because, she, and I get together usually because we don't... it's. Allura you really wouldn't understand, you're the couple type of woman. You want happily ever after with your dark handsome captain."

Allura blushed, then she kissed Lance quickly on the cheek. "I told him I'd be right back," she said.

"Then I better follow you, so you two don't get in trouble."

Allura beamed and nodded.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

_three months later_

Keith groaned as the door to Allura's room closed in his face, a few feet away Lance did nothing to hide his amusement. "Issues, Commander?" he laughed.

Lance held up his hands at the glare he got from Keith, as Keith turned and walked toward him. "She doesn't even know she's doing it," Keith muttered.

It wasn't a lie, Allura had a knack for moving in the most seductive manner possible around Keith without even trying. It was getting more and more pronounced as the weeks went on and she became more comfortable being able to simply touch him. She wasn't throwing herself at him, she wasn't grabbing his ass, or jumping on him and wrapping her legs around his hips. She'd just run her hand down his chest and stop just short, completely and utterly teasing Keith. She had million other little innocent moves, where she had no idea what she was doing, Lara had dubbed her the Evil Sweet Seducer.

Lance, Lara, and Hunk had bets going on when Keith was really going to lose it due to being unable to release sexual energy that Allura was provoking within him, mostly unintentionally but Lance knew which moves were intentional - and some of them were, but Keith. Keith really thought none of them were.

"I'm fine," Keith said, his voice louder.

Lance rolled his eyes. This meant he was supposed to pretend Keith hadn't muttered anything about Allura and his sex life under his breathe after kissing her goodnight.

"Sure thing," Lance said.

"Commander Kogane, Lieutenant McClain to the Control Room please," Hunk's voice called over the Castle's speaker system.

Lance looked at his watch, it was late, Lara was still acting skittish, he was still only managing to get her to agree to a date once per month, and he had a feeling that meant he did have some sort of foothold on her really hard to get heart. He'd been looking forward to the alone time tonight to talk to her, try some ideas Allura had given him about breaking past her walls.

Keith gave him a smirk as they had to take the turn away from their rooms, Lance decided to let Keith have his moment of enjoyment at the fact that now Lance wasn't going to get any either tonight. He kept his mouth firmly shut as he walked into the control room behind Keith, saw that Pidge, Hunk and Coran were standing in front of a screen that held Space Marshal Graham face.

"There they are," he said.

Keith and Lance both saluted, then exchanged quick glances with Pidge, and Hunk. They didn't know anything yet, either. Lance started to have a weird feeling, he knew about this, he'd read about this... "Oh," he said out loud when he remembered what he had read. Keith kicked him with his foot, Lance stayed quiet.

"We are on our way to Arus. You've been there now for over two years, it's time for an on sight evaluation, of the team. See how you operate things from on sight as well, when there are attacks. I'll be overseeing it myself since Voltron is such an important weapon for the Garrison and the Alliance."

Coran coughed.

"It's not really a weapon, sir," Keith tried to point out.

"Right, right, Defender. Arus of course has the final say on all Voltron decisions, as agreed. We have brought five top pilots, straight from the Academy with hopes they will be favorable to Princess Allura to be trained as back up pilots. We've have your calls for help in the past."

Lance cringed, five kids from the Academy, there was no way the Lions would accept pilots that green, it just wouldn't happen. The Lions would probably laugh at them before refusing fly for them - he wasn't sure he wanted to know what that would look like. Crap, he was remembering again, he'd read what it looked like, it wasn't pretty.

"Sky Marshal, the Lions really aren't something green pilots should be trying to fly," he tried to say.

"We'll discuss this when the party lands. We'll be on Arus for a month at the least, we'll land on Arus by o-six-hundred, Grant out."

Keith and Lance exchanged glances, Keith scratched the back of his neck and cleared his throat. "We've been asking for back up since day one, this could be a good thing."

Lance kept his mouth shut, he couldn't start talking about how it wouldn't work because the pilots were no better than cadets, before he met them. He needed to sit and see what it was he could remember about what he'd read in the past. The more he thought on this the more he remembered and he does remember it ending fairly well in the long run. It would just take getting to the long run, maybe, maybe he could speed up that process with his knowledge?

"It will be made clear that Voltron is not a weapon at the Garrisons disposal." Coran stood up and crossed the room, before turning back. "This is something that we will make crystal clear up front in the morning, correct?" Coran said, doing something he rarely did these days, giving them an order himself.

It was okay, they all agreed, Arus was Voltron's home and Allura was Voltron's owner as far they were concerned. Lance himself when Graham had referenced Voltron as weapon had felt the hair on the back of his neck rise like it did when chalk squeaked against a blackboard. It unsettled him, it was wrong. Voltron belonged to no one, but Arusians spoke for it, or something like shouted in his head. "It'll work out fine," he said but found he didn't sound confident at all. Pidge and Hunk both were looking at him and Keith like they were nuts.

"Coran, we won't let them use Voltron as a weapon, we'll stand by Allura's choices in regards to using him as a Defender only," Keith said.

Lance nodded.

"Yep."

"He said it!" Hunk said.

As Coran left the room, Lance looked at his watch, Lara might, might still be in his room. "Keith?" he pointed with his thumb behind him.

Keith rolled his eyes but nodded at him. "Just be up by 0500, I want us to get in hand to hand and be in the lions when they get here. Can you stop by..."

Lance sighed. "I'll stop by and tell Allura."

Keith shrugged. "Pidge, Hunk, let's brain storm, I want to be ready for anything they might ask us, what do think?"

Lance didn't blame Keith there as he walked out of the room, by morning he'd have every base covered and probably two killer practice sessions planned to really show off the team to Garrison, as well as to show that Voltron is good hands on Arus, and that his, Coran and Allura's opinions needed to be trusted.

He hit the button to let Allura know she had a visitor. He knew she was up usually at least two hours after Keith dropped her off. Daydreaming and doing whatever girls did before they went to sleep. The door opened. He waved. "Hey, we have an early morning practice, hand to hand at five am."

Allura's nose scrunched up. "Why?"

"Space Marshal Graham is coming up to evaluate us, with a possible back up team. It's going to get a bit political here for awhile."

Allura sighed. "Back up pilots? Great, Nanny is going to see them and say one of them should just replace me."

"Won't happen," Lance said.

Allura shook her head. "Won't happen, you know Nanny, then Coran will decide it should be tried out because I'm Princess and Keith will agree because I am the Princess..."

"Blue lion won't," he said.

Allura smiled. "That's sweet, but don't you have to meet them first?"

"Uh," he ran his hands through his hair. "I remember reading about this, the pilots they send, green academy graduates, never seen combat, have thrown some lion simulators the academy through together but once Pidge saw the specs he laughed hysterically - what else do I remember. Oh yeah, not one of them is accepted by a lion. When Graham mentioned them I thought the lions would laugh at them, which was more a memory than anything because I remember reading: I think the lions were laughing at each back up pilot and something about the lions having furballs... I guess I'll see."

Allura smiled. "Good, so I won't have to worry about having to stop protecting Arus."

"Never, Allura," Lance said. "And if you want to back it up, show Nanny and Coran the prophecy of you and Blue."

Allura nodded but frowned. "It's hard to show that one without ..." she gestured between them.

"You could rip the led in to that part out, say you found it that way. Burn it out something."

"That's destroying something sacred, Lance!"

"Just an idea!" Lance held up his hands.

"Sorry."

"Get some sleep, I really got to go, Lara might already be gone but I'm hoping not."

"Oh, thank her for me."

"For?"

"She smuggled something in for me," Allura reached towards something near her door and held up a small satchel he'd seen Lara carrying when she arrived. "I owe her."

"What is in there?" Lance asked because he let Allura bend rules left and right on any given day and he trusted Lara. But there were some things Lara did and would do that he didn't want Allura near.

"Make up."

Relief flooded him and he laughed. "Make up? Wait, that's why you don't wear make up, it has to be smuggled in?"

Allura nodded. "Nanny lies about how it's not allowed, but it's just her own stupid rule."

Lance shook his head. "Okay, yeah, I'll tell her thanks on your behalf." He leaned in and kissed her cheek, then waited for her to close the door, then took back off down the hall. As he turned to the corner to the hallway where his room was he saw Lara exiting his room.

"Hey, no, don't go yet," he yelled out, hurrying up to the door. "We aren't done."

"Lance, you've been over an hour. And I'm pretty sure Keith didn't take thta long kissing Allura, unless he finally broke down and took her but you still had to _chaperone_."

"How do you make chaperone, a dirty word?" he asked her, crowding her trying to move her back into his bedroom. "There was some business to take care of but it's all done now."

"And you smell like Allura because?" Lara laughed.

"Huh?"

"You have that sweet purple flower perfume smell of hers all over you, she must have just spritzed herself anew," Lara said.

"I kissed her goodnight," Lance shrugged.

Lara arched a brow. "Before or after Keith? What goes on after you send me to your room?"

Lance rolled his eyes and managed to shove her into his room. "On the cheek, Lara, lord, I had to tell her about early morning practice."

"Well, if you have to get up early, I really should leave," Lara said, trying to get by him again.

"Will you just stay and talk to me for twenty minutes? Please?" Lance asked.

"Talk?" Lara stared at him. "Lance, you aren't going to start with us with the more serious relationship stuff are you?"

"I just want to know what the possibility offends you so much."

"It doesn't offend me. It just... isn't, it's... when we met you said you had no intention of ever wanting serious either."

Lance grabbed her hand and pulled her down with him to sit on his bed. "Things changed, I changed. What I've seen here it changed me, in the last two years I've changed a lot. Since we met I've changed."

"True, over night sometimes it seems."

Lance shook his head. "Lara, come on, we're great together, we laugh, we have fun, we're awesome in bed..."

"So we should date, then get married and have babies?"

"Why not?"

"That was my parents love story."

"Great," Lance said.

"No," Lara said. "They were sweethearts after some festival dance where my dad finally got the courage to ask my mom to dance. He thought she was the prettiest because of her red hair. They had fun, everyone told them they were great together, as they double dated with other couples who got together that night. All following the cute Arusian traditions. They didn't have sex until after the marriage, but mother was very grateful she liked it and it was good - because some of her friends weren't so lucky."

Lance frowned. "Uh, wow."

Lara nodded. "Then she told me it all fall apart. Because fun, and great sex doesn't last. And she dad and are great friends and nothing else now. They are fine, they look like a great couple. But I think they stopped having sex around the time I turned ten and have been sleeping in separate beds sense. And he goes to the oldest profession while my mother gets nothing. Nada."

"Wait, whoa, there are hookers on Arus?"

"Yeah," Lara said. "I'm surprised you don't know that."

"I'm just I'm amazed since you know all the traditions," Lance said.

"They are usually widows who really liked sex and decided not to give it up. Some are women with a similar story to my mother, though when I informed my mother I thought she might spontaneously combust from the blushing.

Lance stared at Lara. "And you know all this because?"

"I asked them."

"You asked them?"

"I was curious," Lara said. "It's an interesting secret of Arus, no one talks about it. There are lots of things that are never talk about. It's always been a part of the world, like it's always been a part of your culture. Then there are things that are happening that no one is talking about because of the attacks, and some people only feel safe on the outskirts, underground, where the brothels are with other outsiders."

"Like?"

"People psychologically damaged from all the attacks, I've been trying to read up on it, to help them. As part of my work for the free clinic, it's how I found out about everyone still living... When I say underground I mean literally. It's called PSTD on Earth, right?"

"Post traumatic stress disorder. Yeah, that is to be expected."

"Well, no one on Arus has ever really dealt with anything like it in years, or ever. It's not... No one knows how to handle it and they run."

Lance felt the hair on the back of his neck rising again, that unsettled feeling in his gut, he tried to push it down because the voice in his head was telling him to speak for Arus. He had no rights to speak for Arus. He blamed the future, it was some damn side effect of him figuring out how to put the right pilot in a lion. It was that damn piece of old paper Allura had hid in Alfor's tomb.

"You should tell Allura about this," he said.

Lara laughed. "Innocent sweet Allura, why worry her?"

"Because she's the Princess, Lara. And maybe she's naive with Keith and about that...but she's not all that innocent and she's not that sweet. And she's had her own trauma's because of the attacks and this damn war. And you should tell her what her people are going through. About what you are seeing. About the people falling through the damn cracks so she can do something for them!"

He stood up as he talked and crossed the room so he was staring at the stupid damn landscape painting he had up over his bureau. His fists were clenched. He spun back around and pinned Lara with his eyes. "I want you to take me there."

"What?" Lara said.

"You're taking me to this underground. The brothel, whatever else is there, where those who are hiding because they think they can't be helped because they've been too traumatized."

Lara stood up. "Sometimes you sound like you care about Arus like you were born here."

"I swore an oath to protect Arus when I agreed to fly Red Lion, I took that oath seriously, Lara. More seriously than I'd ever taken anything in my life up until that moment."

Lara nodded.

"By the way, just because your parents ended up being just friends, doesn't mean that will happen to us."

Lara rolled her eyes. "There isn't an us. I'm not sure I want to get married, and I am definitely not done exploring my options."

"Am I at least on the top of the options list?" Lance asked, crossing the room again and grabbing her hands and pulling her up.

Lara smirked at him. "I don't know, how well do you kiss again?"

"Let's find out," he whispered leaning down and kissing her soundly.

As they parted her hand came up, and rubbed at his lips. "This new lipstick I bought sucks, doesn't stay on for anything..." she rubbed at his skin.

"Oh, yeah, Allura said thank you."

"I bought her higher end stuff, which is why I have on cheap stuff..." Lara sighed.

"Lara, she'll give you money for it," Lance laughed.

"I'm not asking the Princess of Arus for money!"

"If you don't remind her she won't think of it, it's not like she carries a purse. I'll tell her, how much was what you got her?."

"$75.67 Arulians."

"Seriously? For make up?"

"That's just the basics, Lance, it could've been worse, I found a sale."

"I'll get you the money."

Lara nodded but blushed.

"Talks about hookers with no issues, blushes about money the Princess owes her."

"It's the Princess. You now how weird it is to me to call her by her given name?"

"Not really."

Lara shook her head. "You and her are weird together, anyway."

"What?" Lance asked, not that it was the first time he heard it since he and Allura had returned. Keith every now and again gave him a look, or a glance, or just plain said something like: 'Stop making my girlfriend laugh so much, or stop touching my girlfriend so much will you.'

"Keith and her are sweet, endearing even. And as they get to know each other better, they are friendlier, more touchy feely, more jokey, and fun. But you and her, she swats you, pokes you, you throw your arm around her. Last week when Keith left the room for a minute to talk to a guard who needed his attention, you literally picked her up over your shoulder. She's the Princess, no one is supposed to be that familiar with her until she's married."

A flash of a very married him and Allura memorialized in paint flashed in his memory. "Don't know what to tell you, she's my best friend, and I'm a tactile guy. Not like she complains."

"True. Though, I'm sure if Nanny or Coran saw, they'd fire you as the chaperone."

"They should fire me as the chaperone anyway... Hell, I'd leave them alone completely if Keith would let me."

Lara laughed then kissed him again really quickly. "I need to go?" she whined.

"Fine. Begone. Sometime this week, when I can get away, you're taking me to those places, Lara. I'll call you."

Lara nodded and she was about to walk out his room but she paused. "Uh, you aren't going to tell Allura about them are you?"

"Of course I am."

"Before or after you see them?"

"Haven't decided yet," Lance admitted.

"Wait. Because, I just... Allura knowing about those places, it's bugs me."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Really, you too? Wanting to protect her. She's not porcelain."

Lara glared at him then. "It's not that at all, I know she's strong...I... damn you, Lance McClain!" She stalked off leaving his door wide open, making him wonder just what she thought she'd meant about wanting to keep the truth from Allura about her own people.

Keith, Pidge and Hunk were all in the hallway and they all gave him a look. He sighed. "It's not what it sounds like," he said as he watched Lara take the corner and disappear.

"Right," they all said, shaking their heads.

"Really it's not?"

"Since you're not busy, I'll catch you up," Keith said, again with the small smirk on his lips.

Lance glared at him this time but followed his commander into his room nonetheless to hear how Keith planned to deal with the Garrison being here to watch their every move.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eightteen

Lance felt the air rush out of him as Allura easily tossed him to the mat underneath them. Keith however wasn't impressed. "You were both sloppy, again."

Lance hopped up and glared at Keith. "Are you serious?"

"Again."

He and Allura were to attach each other, using Aikido techniques and whoever won won, Keith was just looking for how good their technique was. Lance figured someone ended up on the ground all was good. In an actual fight they wouldn't be playing half as nice as they were now - in fact, he looked at Allura, leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Play dirty, this time."

Allura widened her eyes. "He'll get mad," she mouthed at him.

Lance shrugged. "Just use some good technique while you do it, maybe if you hurt me he'll finally let us stop."

Allura sighed, she looked up at the sky, the sun was rising and rising. Keith had them, Pidge and Hunk fighting each other for over two hours now, with him coming in every now and again to show them how it was supposed to be done. She pushed some fly away hair off her face, tightened her ponytail and eyed Lance. "Why don't you play dirty?"

Lance eyed her.

"I thought you knew I'm not a doll."

"Still not going to actually hurt you, Princess," Lance said, shaking his head.

Keith stepped off the mat, after showing Pidge something he wanted him to try in his fight with Hunk. He took his place where he watched them. "Allura and Lance, first, go," Keith yelled and blew a whistle.

Allura came at Lance full force with a knife-hand strike to his left, hitting him in the neck then followed through with a direct punch to his chest. She didn't hold back at all,attacked fast and swift giving him no time to even try to defend himself (which was the point with her training, they wanted her faster than her opponents) and he fell back on the mat with an yowl and oof.

Lance coughed as he tried to breath in more air, and rubbed the spot on his neck, that was going to bruise. He looked at Allura though, who was looking at him with a mortified look on her face and winked. "It's all good," he said as Keith suddenly was peering down at him, bend over and checking him out.

"Allura, you're not supposed to harm your partner," Keith said, shaking his head and trying not to smile. He was still facing Lance, he gave Lance a look as he tried to control his expression into that of a commander talking to a student and not as a boyfriend who wanted to say how cool it was his girlfriend just took down his second-in-command. "She so kicked your ass," Keith mouthed.

Lance rolled his eyes.

"I didn't mean to hit him that hard," Allura said moving closer herself. "Lance your neck is turning purple."

Lance grinned. "Maybe I can make Lara jealous. Tell her it's a hickey."

"From what," Hunk said, as he and Pidge joined everyone in peering down at him. "A bear, that is thing is going to be huge, she really whacked you. Congratulatons, Princess!"

Keith had gotten control of his features. "Allura, don't use your full force in practice, we've discussed this. Lance you've been reminding her right?"

"Of course, Commander," Lance said, allowing Allura to help him up.

Keith looked between them. "Good, fine. Okay, you know, we're done for the day, go shower and change and meet me in the control room to go up in the lions. I want us up in them when the Garrison ship arrives, with Graham and the people he's bringing."

Lance walked off with Pidge and Hunk, Allura hung back to talk with Keith a bit more. Pidge kept glancing at Lance as they made their way towards the changing room where they would change out of the gi's, shower off and put on their flight suits. Finally Lance couldn't take the questioning gaze any longer.

"What?"

"You had her do it on purpose didn't you?"

"Of course I did," Lance said.

Hunk laughed. "I told you, little buddy. No way Lance was going to let Keith keep us other here too much longer."

"I thought you meant Lance would tell him to stop."

"He wasn't going to listen to reason, only injury would do. Pidge sometimes a man just has to take one for the team."

"Uh," Pidge said.

"I'll say one thing, she's sure gotten fast, she was a blur I wasn't even sure what moves she made until I saw your injury and how you fell."

"She's kickass, I keep telling you all this, but do you listen?" Lance opened the door and all stepped inside and almost into Nanny.

Nanny looked at the three of them and then behind them. "Where is Princess Allura?"

"On her way," Lance said about to follow Hunk and Pidge into the locker room, where he knew Nanny would never follow.

"Where is Commander Kogane?"

"Uh, he's on his way too, I'm sure."

"You left them alone, unattended, alone!"

"They aren't on a date," Lance muttered, hoping if he wasn't loud maybe Nanny's own decibel level would calm down.

"Get back out there now and chaperone them back here, do your job,' Nanny said poking him in the chest, making him stumble backwards into the door he'd just walked through.

He reached behind himself and got the the door. "Okay, okay, I'm going, I'm going."

"Tell, Princess Allura, I need to speak with her, I will be waiting here, respecting her privacy with Commander Kogane."

Lance shot Nanny incredulous look, closed the door again, saw Keith and Allura walking next to each other, not even holding hands come into view. He sighed and walked up to join them halfway.

"What is it?" Allura asked.

"Nanny is waiting for you, and she wants me to make a point she is respecting your privacy with Commander Kogane, which uh by the way we're in trouble about the lack of chaperone for all three minutes."

Keith swore.

"We aren't on a date!" Allura exclaimed.

"That is what I said," Lance shook his head.

"That isn't the point, we aren't be alone while we are dating, it's a hard rule," Keith shook his head. "I should know better."

Lance stared at Keith. "Keith, come on it was nothing, just tell Nanny that."

"I'll tell Nanny that," Allura said.

"No. We'll apologize and say it won't happen again," Keith said, stepping ahead of them and opening the door.

Both Nanny and Coran were standing there, arms crossed. Keith turned back to look at Lance and Allura, he mouthed 'Apology.' Lance and Allura glanced at each other, Allura sighed, Lance just wanted to go into the other room.

"Lance, said you needed to see me Nanny?"

"Yes, you have duties that need to be performed today. You need to visit a few families that have been through some struggles, attend a few meetings with Coran, you do not have time to fly that lion today. Also with the back up pilots coming we should have one of them take over Blue Lion, don't you think? The best one of course."

"No," Allura said. "I fly Blue Lion."

"Nanny, we don't even know if the lions will fly for the back up pilots," Keith reminded Nanny.

"They will, of course the will, they flew for you, didn't they. Yes."

"I will do my duties, but I need to fly with the boys today, at least until Space Marshal Graham arrives."

"You and Keith were alone together," Coran said. "We've discussed this Allura. It is not to happen, when it does there are to be repercussions."

"Coran, it was my fault," Keith said. "I was in command mode, I slipped up, I wanted to talk to her about her Aikido skills after I sent everyone else away. I wasn't thinking, and I promise that will not happen again. I'll make sure Lance remains."

"Allura, did you also just forget?" Coran asked.

Allura crossed her arms over her chest. "No."

Keith looked at her, his eyes wide. "Allura," he whispered.

"I'm sorry, Keith. Coran, he was talking to me as my Commander, as my teacher. He wasn't speaking to me as my boyfriend, so I decided there was no reason to call Lance back to listen to Keith tell me what I'm good at, what I need to work at and how in practice you always pull your punches. Since Lance would be bored out of his mind, and it was less than a two minute conversation. Then we walked back here."

"Nevertheless you both promised to not be alone, together once you began dating," Nanny said.

Allura rolled her eyes. "I'm getting ready to fly," she pushed Coran and Nanny and opened the door to the room she changed in.

"Princess, you're duties."

"Will, get done!" Allura shouted as she closed the door.

"It won't happen again, I promise," Keith said, looking at Coran.

Lance looked at Coran trying to get a read on the guy, he was much more sane than Nanny, he was a very logical man, but there were times when he lost all sense of logic and that was usually when it came to Allura. And Allura was being stubborn right now, stubborn and right, Lance thought but it wasn't helping Keith with his wish to date her with permission and no drama.

"I'm just going to go get..." Lance tried to leave himself with that thought but Keith grabbed stopped him with an arm in front of him.

"And Lance will promise to remember not to leave us alone either, in case Allura, or I slip up."

"Yeah, sure, I'll do that," Lance said.

Keith cleared his throat.

Lance sighed. "Coran, Nanny. I promise I'll be a better more responsible chaperone," he said trying his best not to sound sarcastic.

"I'd like to speak to Keith alone," Coran said.

"Great," Lance said, he darted into the locker room.

Pidge and Hunk looked up, already in their uniforms.

He shook his head. "Don't ask," he said, starting to strip down, he headed for the shower.

Under the hot water, he closed his eyes and wondered just how the hell he'd ended up so wrapped up in Allura's love life. According to the future he was Allura's love life, and now because Keith insisted he was her chaperone for the her and Keith. Which if their love story was ever going to be made into a movie would be the most boring two hours of, handholding, and kisses ever seen. Though, he had to admit, watching Keith trying to keep his lust under wraps was amusing but that was going to get old fast. Also Keith could be a cranky hard ass on a good day, on a bad day with his sexual urges all aroused but not doused in any way but cold water - Lance was sure life for him, Hunk and Pidge was going to get harder, a lot harder.

There were going to be practices without Allura, hard, bad, bad practices, and then Allura would figure out there were practices without her and get mad. Keith would stammer and try not to answer her and have no good reason why she couldn't learn or join in on anything they were doing at the harder practices.

Lance laughed. Maybe the movie of their romance would have it's comedic moments. It had him and Lara as a side plot for sex anyway - well, except for last night. But that'd been anomaly, he hoped.

He also hoped he could get away at some point today, to have her take him down to that underground she'd been telling him about. He needed to see all these people. Nanny had mentioned to Allura she had to visit families that struggled, that was people Allura knew about, what were the struggles the Coran and Allura didn't know about? He felt tension build in his shoulders just thinking about it, thinking about Arusians still living in the darkness, and dankness of caves, creating an underground city of bars and brothels and hiding from sunlight, cities, and rebirth of a life that was building up on the surface.

He'd seen a bright beautiful Arus in the future. Like Allura the whole rebuilt full planet had been one of the most wondrous things about the trip to the future, it was a hard image to forget. He didn't want to forget, he wanted to envision every time he inserted the key into Red Lion and went into battle.

He finished his shower, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist and walked out to see Keith walking in. He and Keith exchanged a look. "Get Coran to back down?"

Keith nodded. "I promised that even when in command mode, I'd make sure you guys, or at least you would be around. I need to talk to her about not making things worse though...why would she say all that?"

"Uh, probably because it's true, Keith. She probably didn't forget, and decided it didn't matter because it wasn't a date and it wasn't going to be long. Plus she'd take any couple of minutes alone she could get with you. Also the is stupid anyway, you've been alone with her before, you aren't going to take advantage of her. Though her you is really the question I think," Lance said, with a grin.

Keith rolled his eyes. "Give it up, and stop putting rebellious thoughts in her head."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you," Keith started to undress. "Get them up in the lions, run through the paces until I get there."

"She's always been rebellious."

"You make it worse, just stop it."

"Okay," Lance said, walking off to get dressed. Thinking if Keith thought he had any control over the rebellious thoughts in Allura's head he really needed to listen to Allura. Lance wasn't responsible for them, they'd always been there, Allura wasn't a well-behaved follow the rules Princess, she never had been.

It was one of the things he loved about her the most.

~~.~~

Keith closed his eyes for a moment as Black took to the air, there was that brief moment were it felt like they were floating, light as a feather, before the vibrations of machine, the weight and responsibility of who he was and what he was flying rushed through him. There was still a feeling of otherworld-ness about the flight, he felt a sentience from the Lion, they all did.

Black would protect him, Black would protect them all.

Nanny had wanted to take Allura way from him, like she was a toy and he'd lost his privileges from breaking the rules. He hated it, loathed it, yet at the same time, Allura was a rarity in the world. She was brave and strong, she'd seen and done things that young woman her age should never have to go through. Yet she was still dreamy, naive, innocent in so many ways still a girl and not a woman. She could throw Lance down onto his ass, but she had no idea how she seduced Keith with her small touches, her graceful way of touching him and letting her body fall into his personal space when they were together - never alone of course.

Except for less than three minutes today, where it hadn't even occurred to Keith they had been alone until Lance told him. He'd been completely focused on the Aikido training, on the speed, the accuracy, everyone seemed sloppy to him. He didn't know if he was expecting too much from them, or if they weren't trying hard enough because they were getting tired from going so long. Then Allura became a complete blur and full force on Lance.

Which he'd told her to do no doubt. Keith shook his head, he'd been telling her not to listen to Lance next time he told her to play dirty, to get Keith to cut training sooner. They could talk to him. He'd listen. She'd given him a strange look then but nodded.

Lance asking her to do that though had proved one thing, she was fast, which had been his and Lance's goal with her. Lance's bruise meant she had some force too. Keith was proud, he smiled, maybe Lance did have a point on her being able to take care of herself. Didn't mean he ever wanted her to have test it out.

He came up on the group of them, not at all surprised Lance had them racing through the canyon. Red Lion and Blue Lion appeared to be nearly neck and neck, Keith pushed down his worry for Allura, reminding himself that she'd made amazing strides in her piloting. He didn't have to worry about her losing control while she was going to fast, she could handle the lion.

He hovered in the air, watching the four lions. Hunk was just a hair ahead of Pidge, both of them were gaining on Red and Blue Lion, Keith had to turn to his panels to figure out who was in the lead.

Lance was of course, Keith wasn't surprised, but it was a smaller lead than Keith would have guessed. Allura had the faster lion, if anything both Hunk and Allura should always be beating Lance in the canyon, as well as himself in Black. But Lance was the better pilot, he could make Red Lion do things Keith couldn't even imagine. He always took the curves faster, swerved around the obstacles like they weren't there. Keith had only managed to beat him three times, all three times Lance was either injured or sick. Pissed Keith off.

They were coming up to the last curve, Keith looked out his viewport, Lance was speeding head, he watched Hunk, expecting him to get ahead of Allura, but Allura stayed ahead of him. Pidge gained some ground however, while Hunk seemed to remain static. Resulting in Pidge and Hunk tying for last place, Lance winning easily with Allura coming in a very good second. He was going to have to find out her time.

"Okay guys, racing fun is over?" Keith said. "I want do some battle formations, starting with Formation Zeta D One."

"Any ETA on Graham and his ship?" Hunk asked.

"About an hour, so we have time to get in an okay practice," Keith said.

Allura came up on his communications screen, on a private line. "What happened with Coran?" She looked apologetic. "I'm sorry I didn't just apologize and play nice, but they are being extremely overbearing about everything and it was just a few minutes for crying out loud and you were being Commander Kogane."

Keith laughed, there was something about the way she said Commander Kogane. She smiled at him through the screen and he was smiling back. "It's okay, I just had to say I promise it won't happen again a lot. And Allura," he made his face stern again. "It can't okay? Even if I'm in Commander Kogane mode, we can't. Not even for a few minutes. It's important to them to keep up the propriety. If outsiders, civilians see us alone, they don't want you looking bad to the people. It's important, and I agree. Rumors can be started from nothing, we don't want to give them any ammunition, your reputation is too important. Arus needs you."

Allura sighed. "I still think there are ways for us to be together without it harming my reputation without the strict medieval rules."

"Allura, promise?"

"Yes, sir," Allura said. "By the way, Commander, you are out of formation."

Keith looked down, swore and cut her off her communication, but not before hearing her laughing at him. He took a breath, told himself to focus on Voltron, on commanding, this was not the place to get distracted by his girlfriend. For one thing it'd prove some of Coran's concerns and worries correct and that was one thing Keith refused to allow to happen.

He moved Black into the lead position and immediately Lance was on the line. "About time there Chief, I was about to ask if you needed some help remembering how to fly?"

"Okay now I want us to skim the surface, fly up and move into attack formation Alpha B Four," Keith said ignoring Lance.

"You sure you can handle that Keith," Lance asked. "I mean that's a tricky move, maybe we should try more simple for you."

Keith rolled his eyes, Lance was going to ride him the rest of the day. Allura's laughter also filtered into his ears, and Keith sighed, you would think your girlfriend would be on your side. But, no she had to have the same warped sense of humor as his best friend.

Crap what did that say about him, Keith thought.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

They'd stayed in the Lions for at least fifteen minutes after Graham and everyone he'd brought with him had landed with him. Allura, had to head straight to her bedroom to change into one of her dresses of course so she walked into the initial meeting late. And apparently in time for fireworks.

"Lieutenant McClain, I don't believe we were asking for your opinion," a man with an olive complexion, a goatee and cold green eyes was saying, leveling Lance with a look of disdain.

"Yet, you really should listen to my opinion," Lance said, glancing at Keith.

Keith shook his head at Lance.

Lance shot him a look that said, then you're being stupid too.

Allura had a bad feeling as she stepped more fully into the room, revealing her presence. Space Marshal Graham was the first to see her, he stood up from the chair he was sitting and bowed to her. "Princess Allura."

"I'm sorry for the delay," she said.

"No, we should apologize for starting discussion without you, Princess," Graham said.

"What are you discussing?" Allura said, slipping into her seat between Keith and Lance at the table, noticing that Pidge and Hunk were no where to be seen for the first time. She glanced at both Keith and Lance, mouthing their names.

Keith mouthed later, Lance mouthed the douchebags don't think their ranks are high enough. Allura held in a sigh, as she found herself knowing Lance was right and Keith knew it too.

"I'll let General Ash explain."

"Princess Allura, hello," the man who'd been looking with Lance like he was bug was addressing her. Allura nodded at him, noticing he was looking at her with a much different expression. One of respect for her title but he held no real opinion about her yet, she'd seen the look before.

"I was explaining our plan to implement back up for the team. And perhaps a replacement pilot for you, as a Princess really has no place risking her life."

Allura held her tongue, waiting for the rest, but she had no desire to agree with him, as his pause indicated he was expecting.

Coran decided to do it for her. "We agree, with that sentiment, of course," he said.

Allura wanted to kick him but he was too far across the broad table. She reminded herself that Lance had promised her that nothing would or could take Blue Lion away from her, she even had a prophecy to prove it. She nodded for Ash to go on.

"We have brought seven of our top pilots straight out of the Academy, all of whom have tested highly in Lion simulators we've managed to create with some of the intel you've shared..."

Allura had to stop herself from making a face, they hadn't shared nearly enough intelligence on the lions to give them enough to create simulators close enough to give any pilot any real sense of the lions. Plus one couldn't simulate the real feel of a Lion, not the sentience of them.

General Ash went on. "We want to get them up in the Lions as soon as possible and see how they do, two or three of them at a time, with Commander Keith of course up with them to test them. Just before you walked in Lieutenant McClain was giving us his unsolicited opinion. I had been asking his Commander what he thought of course. Now I ask you."

Allura took a small breath and said the first thing she knew she had to say. "Well, first of all, it's impossible that the simulators you have created have tested these pilots at all. We have not shared enough intelligence with you about the Lions, and secondly there is the impossible fact we cannot share the sentience of the Lions with you at all and it's a vital factor in the Pilot/Lion relationship. Thirdly, it's very possible that the lions will not fly for any of the pilots you have brought with you, only time will tell that. So just hopping in and sending them up will be an issue. And also, wouldn't Lieutenant McClain be the better person to throw them against as a teacher, Commander Kogane?"

On her right Lance was trying not to smirk, Keith was looking at her wide eyes as she looked back at him since she ended her speech with a question to him. She gave him a silent what, not understanding what it was she'd just said. Keith then cleared his throat.

"We will of course, try it, General. But the Princess and Lieutenant McClain have both brought up the vital points. The Lions have minds of their owns, the little intelligence you had couldn't have given the pilots enough of an idea on the Lions. Princess Allura is right, Lieutenant McClain is better suited to train the pilots than I am. He's trained the Princess to truly incredible results."

General Ash looked at the three of them. He then looked again at Lance. "He won't be training them. You will Commander Kogane. Princess Allura, I'd like to try to implement my plan now."

Allura stared at the man, she felt rankled by this man and his treatment of Lance, was it some weird vendetta? She nodded however not knowing what to say or how to handle the situation.

"Commander Kogane, come with me."

"I want Lance and Allura to meet the pilots, sir," Keith said, looking back at them.

"I would like to come as well," Coran said.

"Of course," General Ash said. "After we put the first three through the ropes, I think we should start the evaluation of your team Commander. The Princess will be exempt of course."

"Why?" Allura asked. "I'm as much a part of the team as anyone?"

Space Marshal Graham chuckled a little. "Princess we can't really hold you to the standard we hold the boys too. It'd be quite unfair."

"Right, 'cause there is no way we taught her well enough she isn't up to Garrison standards, yet we let her fight battle. She's probably better than your seven just graduated cadets."

"Lance!" Keith hissed, looking like he wanted to punch Lance's mouth shut.

General Ash pinned Allura with his eyes, Allura did not like him. He looked her up and down. "Do you want us to evaluate you too, Princess," he asked, sounding condescending. Allura realized her agreement with Lance, whether she had known she'd done so or not, had lessened his respect of her title. By a lot. It lessened her respect of him by a lot too.

"Yes. I am a part of the Voltron Force."

"Very well. Let's get the day started."

"Princess," Coran started to say.

Allura just shook her head. "It's been decided," she said to him quietly as they all got into the lift to go down to the control room.

Allura found herself in the corner between Keith and Lance, they both turned around making it a more private corner. Keith looked at them both and sighed. "Did you both have to say the exact same thing? At least Allura was more diplomatic about it. And you," he pointed at Lance. "You know Ash hates you, why make it worse?"

"Uh, cause the guy hates me, what does it matter. Nothing is going to make him like me, why kiss his ass Keith."

Keith sighed. "He came really close to kicking you off the team before we left for Arus in the first place, Lance. Do you want him to find a way now?"

"He can't, Keith. Red won't let him."

Keith rolled his eyes. "You don't know the Lions won't fly for the pilots."

"Did you even look at the files you are holding? They are kids, from the Academy, simulated combat is all they've been through. The Lions are not taking on neophytes."

Keith stared at him and cocked his head towards Allura. "She was."

"Was not," Lance said. "She's a child of war, Keith, it's made Allura who she is. Plus daughter of Arus."

Allura just moved her eyes between them, watched Keith take in what Lance was saying and realize he was right. She that look Keith got when he realized Lance was right and he didn't like it, it kind of cracked her up but she made herself not smile or giggle this time.

"I don't like that you two basically goaded him into included Allura in the evaluation, she shouldn't be held to Garrison standards."

"Why not?" she and Lance said.

Keith looked between them both.

He then looked at Allura, looked at her and she looked back at him, daring him to tell her he thought she couldn't hack it because he would get himself slapped, he certainly wasn't getting his date this Friday if he did. She also already felt this deep hurt inside that started in her stomach and was threatening to work up into her tear ducts. Didn't he have any faith in her?

"They won't go easy on you?" he said.

"Good, I'm tired of you going easy on me."

Keith nodded. "I try not too," he muttered, he sighed and looked at Lance.

"You suck at it."

"Fine. Maybe I should toss you all her training from now on?"

"Maybe." Lance said.

"And really, Lance should train the pilots?" Keith said.

"Well, maybe if you didn't go easy on me I'd think you were better at it, but he pushes people to reach their potential. And you yourself have scheduled me with him one on one just for that. So it's not like you don't know it does it. I know you know how it works with Lance, or you wouldn't let him do it to all of us during training at all."

Keith shook his head. "Fine, fine. You really don't think the lions will take these pilots?"

"No." Lance said.

The lift stopped and they all stepped off, Keith went forward to speak with Graham and Ash. Allura stayed by Lance curious. "Why does Ash hate you?"

"He's by the book. I'm not. Yet he never could fail. He's why Keith scored higher and best pilot in our year of the Academy, even though I should've. He was our instructor. He tried and tried to expel me for not following the rules in a straight line, but the Academy Chancellor never ruled his way."

Allura grinned. "He almost didn't let you come to Arus?"

"He thought I was too reckless for such an important mission. Other people on the deciding board, looked at my record and decided it was my recklessness that was needed. He did get them to agree that Keith had to agree to make Sven his second and not me. Fat lot of good that did, I'm still second, Ash is probably really pissed about that."

Allura shook her head.

They heard Ash speaking and Allura saw the three pilots he was introducing, they were all biologically older than Pidge she realized, by three or four years, putting them at her age. Yet they all seemed young to her when she looked at them. They look shiny to her like new coins, overwhelmed and excited about where they were, they were all beaming at Keith looking ready to please.

"Commander, this is Junior Lieutenant Fox, I believe he'd be a good fit for Blue Lion and is already to replace Princess Allura, we will put him in Blue today," Ash said.

Allura looked at him, she felt possessive and a wave of worry washed over her and she looked at Lance.

"I still want it on record that We, should be in the Lions with them. They won't understand the controls, and things are going to go wrong anyway." Lance looked directly at Keith as he said it and then looked right at Coran when he finished. Daring Coran to tell him he didn't have a point.

Ignoring him Ash put his hand on another young man's shoulder. Allura then noticed he hadn't brought any women with him, she knew there were bright young women at the Academy she'd heard the boys mention them. "This is Junior Lieutenant Kincaid, a great fit for Red Lion, one of the best natural pilot's I've seen since you Keith. He just needs to control his patience a bit but he's working on it."

Allura couldn't believe the man would really do that, right in front of all them, why would anyone hate someone so much just because they weren't exactly like who they thought they should be? Lance just snorted next her and spoke again. "Keith not kidding."

Keith shot him a shut up look.

Coran cleared his throat. "Perhaps, it would be helpful for the current pilots to be in the cockpit with the young pilots, just for the first attempts. The Lions may hold some unexpected power for them?"

Ash just continued on to the third young man. "This is Junior Lieutenant Hogan, I think he'll be a good fit for green lion."

"We should call Pidge," Lance said loudly.

Ash then turned to Lance, "Have you noticed no one is listening yet?"

"Coran is listening," Lance said. "Made a whole statement you rudely ignored. Of Allura's Advisor and our Strategist, a very smart and wise man."

Space Marshal Graham cleared his throat. "Yes, I think that, give what we've been told by Princess Allura, Lieutenant McClain and it being agreed with by Commander Kogane and Advisor Coran. We should have Princess Allura, McClain and Stoker go with Fox, Kincaid and Hogan."

Allura noticed Ash looked beyond pissed before he schooled his features and turned to Graham. "Very well."

"I'll go get changed," she said, walking off quickly.

"I'll get Pidge," Lance said, since he hadn't changed at all.

Keith nodded.

~~.~~

Fifteen minutes later, Allura found herself in the cockpit of Blue Lion with a very excited Fox. She tried to feel excited with him, for him, but mostly she was seeing him as a threat to where she felt she belonged. It was her Lion, her rightful place until Voltron was no longer needed to protect Arus from danger. She was the Princess and she would protect her people.

Allura handed him the key, however. He grinned and looked like an eight year old kid at Christmas as he took it. "Thank you, Princess. I, wow, I can't wait to fly her."

"Keith should give the order soon, sit down," she motioned toward the seat and she stood behind it.

Just as Fox sat down Keith's face came up on the communications feed as well as his voice. "Insert keys," he said.

Fox inserted the key, Allura held her breath. Blue Lion started up and Allura expected the usual hum that happened right before she knew it was okay to take off. But instead there was a weird spark that lit up the entire control panel, the laser missile from the tail went off putting a small hole in the bottom of the lake and Blue went dark.

Completely and totally dark, she even felt the legs of the Lion scrap against the pedestal it rested on and give out under the weight of it. She gasped as it all happened and almost threw up.

Blue Lion was Dead.

Fox panicked and kept hitting the button he knew was communications, over and over again even though it wouldn't work. "I don't understand," he kept muttering, "did I do something wrong," he glanced at her. "I don't understand."

Allura had seen the Lion not take a pilot before, many times, actually, but this was different, this was a complete shut down, a shut out. There was no light, there was not life left at all. She pulled at the communication device on the belt of her suit, she turned it on, there were a million voices talking at once.

"Commander Kogane, I do not understand, what are Stoker and McClain saying?"

"They are saying their Lions have gone completely dark sir, they seem dead, when Princess Allura checks in I"m a sure she will say the same thing."

"Dead? What does that mean?"

"Sir, I'm not really sure, it's never happened before. We've had Blue Lion reject pilots before but never anything to this extreme."

There was a pause.

Allura said the only thing that was screaming in her head, the only thing she knew to do that might be able to fix this, the only person she knew who could might be able to save the Lions and Voltron and keep her planet save in the process.

"Lance, do something, NOW. FIX THEM!" she ended up shouting into the communications device.

It caused a chorus of voices, but she didn't hear Lance's among them, so she ignored them and stood waiting. Two minutes later, Keith with relief in his voice announced. "Red Lion's in the sky."

"Allura, Pidge, take the keys out and put them back in, you have to turn them back on yourself. Academy pilot completely out of the seat."

Allura sighed, that simple, so simple. Lance had been right, of course he'd know, he'd always know, there was no way the Garrisons plans of just any pilot could work. Lance would have to vet them, that would have to be the future plan.

"Get out of my seat," she told Fox, not caring if she sounded nice or not.

Fox slipped out. "What does this mean?"

"It means Blue Lion doesn't like you," she snapped.

"What?" he said. "But it's a ship, a ship can't like or hate you?"

Allura looked at him incredulous. "Do they not listen at all. I've told them time and time again the Lions are sentient, they aren't just machines they are more than that," she shook her head and pulled out the key.

She held her breath as she placed it back inside, but the lights came back, everything clicked back into its right place and the Lion lifted back up onto its feet. She felt the hum that told her it was time to lift off and she did, because she needed to be sure she flew.

Soon she was in the sky next to Lance, Pidge and Keith. She called up a private line with Lance, he met her eyes through the screen and shook his head. She wiped her eyes realizing for the first time she was crying, it'd scared her. "That scared me."

"Me too," he admitted. "I mean I kinda, you know," he said using his hands to make journal so the pilots behind them wouldn't know what he meant. "Maybe I should have made a bigger fuss."

"No. They had to see it to believe it."

"Yeah," Lance sighed.

"I'm not letting them try again. Will they want too?"

"Probably," Lance said with an eye roll.

Allura shook her head, she saw that Keith was trying to contact her. "Keith's trying to get us."

"Yep. Talk to you more later," he said.

"Guys, they want us to land and come in. Allura are you okay?"

"I am now that the Lions are. It just, it scared me a lot."

"Me too Princess," Pidge said. "I never want to feel Green go that empty again."

Allura smiled at Pidge's face on her screen. "I agree, Pidge. Never again. Keith no more tries, this will just happen again."

"They might make us with the other four, Allura."

"No way, Keith, it will just happen again," Lance said.

"He's right, Keith," Allura said, her heart pounding at the thought of it happening again to any of the Lions, causing them to shut down so hard and fast because they felt so strongly against who was trying to fly them.

"Allura, they won't take our word for it."

"They will take my word for it, my final say on Voltron is my final say. If Lance says it will happen again it will and that is that," she stated, fear lacing her words and causing her to say a bit to much.

"If Lance says?"

Allura sighed. "At least he's not ignoring that the Lions are sentient, like you are, you really want to stand in your lion and watch and feel it go dead?"

She saw him shudder but he tried to hide it. "We can't discuss this here, let's land and see what they say when we explain this, okay?"

"Fine," Allura sighed and found that she flew a bit too fast back towards the lake, because of all the emotions she was feeling, rolling around inside of her. Never again, never again was she letting that happen to one of her lions.

And they were her Lions. Voltron was under Arus's protection. She was chosen to speak for it.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

General Ash stood over the conference table, his fists clenched, one still against the wood table where he'd punched it. He didn't want to listen, Allura didn't understand what the issue was, Keith was explaining the problem clearly, and precisely. Lieutenant Fox, who had been in Blue Lion with her had explained what had happened when he inserted the key, how the Lion had made one strange shot from the tail and then gone completely dark, and quiet.

Ash kept insisting they needed to try again, that giving up wasn't an option. Keith once again try to explain that Lions had rejected Fox, Kincaid and Hogan any attempt to try them in the same lions would yield the same results.

"Then we'll try them in different Lions, Kincaid can try Blue, Fox Green and Hogan Red," Ash was saying now, finally at least getting one point of the matter across.

Lance shook his head looking at Keith. Keith looked at him and then glanced at Allura, she shook her head too. Keith looked across the table at the irate General and somehow remained calm. Allura didn't know how he did it, it was something she'd always admired about him, it took a lot to get him angry, to get him to raise his voice. It was never over a trifle that it happen, it was always something worth being passionate about it.

"General, I believe that even putting them different Lions the same results would happen."

"Well, we'll have to risk it."

"No, we won't," Allura said.

General Ash's cold green eyes fell on her. "Excuse me?"

"I said no, we won't risk it. I will not allow such a complete shut down of the Lions to happen again. I feel that the pilots you have brought are not ready to be Voltron Force pilots. Lieutenant McClain has been upfront on the subject, they've never fought in battle, they've seen nothing of the horrors of war. The Lions felt that and they rejected them, for the safetfy of Arus and the safety of them. In the future, any pilot you bring here to Arus to possibly be trained as a back up pilot for any Lion, they are to be vetted by Commander Kogane and Lieutenant McClain. If they and I stress this, If Keith and Lance tell me they believe a pilot is good enough and ready to be testing in a Lion only then will I allow it. This test has proved that we cannot take putting unknown pilots in the Lions lightly and I will never allow it to happen again."

"Lieutenant McClain is not fit to decide who defends an ant hill let alone your planet, Princess Allura."

Allura started, opened her mouth, shut it and took a breath. "Whatever private hatred of Lieutenant McClain you have you can keep it out of this room, General Ash. As for my planet, he's been keeping it save since he got here, along with Keith, Pidge and Hunk. I disagree with the latter two being kept from these meetings. They Voltron Force after all, Pidge was out there today, feeling what it was like to know when your Lion goes black, yet he's not in this meeting. Yet Junior Lieutenant Hogan is?"

Space Marshal Graham rose up. "Princess, we don't mean to come across as crass, or not caring, however it is quite hard to understand and comprehend what you mean by the Lions choosing, the Lions having sentients. They are mechanical machines, how they were made, their exact engineering has always been a mystery to both Arus and Earth, but they are machines."

"But they aren't," Allura said, she tried to find words, she struggled, she didn't know what to say to them, these lifelong Garrison men, who had never felt it, didn't know what it was. Hadn't grown up on Arus where prophecy, magic and science had been a part of the folklore always, had been in daily life until the war. She didn't where those who could the magic and the seeing were hiding, or if they'd been wiped out, but she remembered and knew from her lessons it'd existed in her lifetime.

She looked toward Coran.

"The Lions are indeed sentient, Space Marshal, General, how to get this across to you is something I do not know how to phrase or anyway to truly show you if todays activities doesn't press that upon you," Coran stated.

"Maybe they need to be in a Lion when it happens," Lance muttered.

Allura sighed, she didn't want to do it but he was right. "You know what Lance you are right."

"What?" Lance and General Ash of course snapped. Allura knew there was a personal reason Ash hated Lance, it was personal and it effect Ash's opinion of Lance as a soldier and it was a disgusting bias was Space Marshal Graham allowing it?

"Allura you just said you never want to allow total shut down on the Lions again," Lance said, leaning forward so he could her in the eye since Keith was sitting between them.

"I think if you take them both up in Red, and them take the controls for a moment, they might get the picture, somewhere still in atmosphere?" Allura said, trying not to smile at what the Space Marshal and especially the General's faces might look like when Red started to drop right out of the sky, like it had when L.T. tried to take over from Lance that one time.

Lance started to smirk, but he stopped and he sat back. "I think that's a great idea."

"Space Marshal Graham do you agree," Allura asked, ignoring General Ash on purpose. "You and General Ash go up with Lance, he gives one of you control for a moment. When you feel what happens maybe you'll have a better understanding of how the Lions are sentient creatures that choose who flies them."

"Space Marshal Graham, I am not..."

"Shut up, Drake, we're going up with Lieutenant McClain. Commander Keith would like to come along as well?"

Allura watched Keith stand up and take the request as an order. "Of course, sir," he said. "Allura?" he asked.

She'd been planning on staying behind in the Castle, trying to calm her anger and question Pidge and Hunk on Ash and Lance, but Keith's invitation was tempting. It was time with Keith, it was a chance to see the reaction of the two Garrison men who thought they understood so much and yet understood nothing. "Of course," she said.

Within minutes they were all Red Lion, Allura stood near the back with Keith, he put a hand around her waist and instructed his superiors that might want to find something to hang on to, for lift off, even though the Lion's had amazing stability in flight. Space Marshal Graham was still talking about the inside of the Volcano, the way they'd zoomed through the Lava via the transport, asking how they'd managed to build it. Allura's answers, she knew were only making him more curious. "Coran told me my father used the best engineers, alchemist and for the volcano there was a potion made that helped all the workers feel as they were once again in the lake. So, magic I suppose."

The second Lance inserted the key and Red awoke, Allura felt the rush of Red vibrate up through her, around her. She was different from Blue, Blue was calmer with an occasional tempest in the heat of battle. Red felt ready to go, ready to fight, ready to go in and get the job done at all costs. No challenge was to tough, to hard to fight. "Do you feel her," she asked Keith.

Keith nodded. "She reminds me of a wild horse my Uncle bought once, was really hard to break for training."

"That's my Red," Lance said as he carried them out of the Volcano and took them high up into Arus's atmosphere. Then positioned her into a hover and glanced over at Graham and Ash. "Who wants to try to fly her?"

"I will," General Ash announced, saying his first words since getting on board, letting his arms for the first time since Graham pulled rank on him to make him get on board the Lion. Lance moved out of the seat, but he didn't move far away from the controls, he still had a hand on them as Ash settled into the seat. "Remember, I am the better pilot, then you could ever dream of being."

Lance glanced at Keith, jaw clenched and said. "I thought you passed that torch to Keith, sir."

"I haven't passed that torch anyone," He grabbed the controls.

Lance took a breath. "Everyone hold onto something."

Allura watched Lance let go of where he was still gripping the control and felt Red go black, felt her presence purring lightly around her vanish and she would have fallen to her feet, like Graham did if Keith had caught her. They were plummeting to the ground.

Lance grabbed the control again as soon as he had his balance back, which took him only a few seconds, Red growled back into life. "Space Marshal Graham are you okay, sir?" Lance asked.

Graham got to his feet. "I am, thank you. Drake, I think you should get out of his seat."

General Ash go out of the seat and stood up, he looked, Allura couldn't read the expression, it was blank, closed off. He wasn't readable. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Space Marshal do you understand more about what I mean?" Allura asked.

Space Marshal Graham looked out the viewport windows, then turned to Allura and was about to open his mouth, when an alert beeped from Lance's console.

"Uh, Keith? We have a problem," Lance said, changing course, rising up. "I've got a robeast coffin on my sensors."

"Is Lotor behind it?" Keith asked, rushing forward to stand behind him.

Lance was looking. "Looks like."

"Contact Control.

"On..." Lance got cut off by another beep. "They saw it too," he said and brought up Coran's face.

"We have trouble, Pidge and Hunk have already flown out."

"Okay, Lance will drop us as quickly as possibly and then regroup with them," Keith said.

Lance nodded, turned around and speed off.

Allura caught hold on Graham's hand to help them both stay upright, since Lance made it feel like their bodies were in two places at once. She liked the sensation but she wasn't so sure if Graham did.

"Crap, Lotor is on our tail," Lance growled. "You all should just hit the floor now, I'm going to have fly fancy to get him off of my ass."

Keith nodded. "Everyone, down," he said, coming over to lay down on the floor of the Lion with Allura and Graham. "General, you should too."

"I'm fine right here," Ash said, from where he stood, behind Lance.

"Drake," Graham said with a warning tone.

"I'm evaluating."

"Now!" Allura said, feeling her anger rise up again, it'd calmed down and now it was burbling up again, what was wrong with this guy.

Keith shook his head at her. "Let Lance concentrate on Lotor."

Allura nodded, realizing Lotor would try to kill him, try crash Red Lion, it was out alone, he didn't know she was in the lion. She sighed. "Where are Pidge and Hunk?"

"Already dealing with the Robeast," Lance muttered as he pulled some maneuver that had Graham saying, "Yeegawds," next to Allura and Keith. Then he called out, "Magma missiles," they heard them explode from the Lion.

"Sneaky bastard," Lance said as he moved Red lightning fast, missing the shots that Allura could feel and hear that Lotor was shooting at Lance. She also knew that Lotor couldn't be the only ships firing at him.

"He's good," General Ash suddenly said. "This is Prince Lotor?"

"Yes," Lance said. "Red sword, it's going to get bumpy" he warned and Allura felt them fly through one, two, four, six Drule ships and the explosions that followed. "We stalemate all the damn fucking time," Lance muttered as he pulled some other maneuver that Allura was sure that no one else could do or would think off to lose Lotor and deflect being shot at, she felt the explosion that happened just after they moved.

"What was that?" Keith asked, just what Allura was thinking.

"Some new bomb thing, he's been throwing at me. He's been trying to hit me with them. They'd powerful, I'm afraid to get too close to the castle with him pummeling me with them. To many civilians,"

Keith got up to his feet and went to mirror Ash's stance. He looked out the viewport. "Where is he?"

"Look at the console," Lance muttered, "Magma missiles," he said.

"Oh," Keith said then looked up to see if Lance's plan worked, but Lotor saw the missiles coming and managed to fly underneath them in the nick of them.

"Fire torch," Lance yelled, pulling up.

"He's under you," Ash yelled.

"He knows what he's doing," Keith said.

Allura waited because she couldn't see anything.

"Good, you caught the damn back end anyway, when he pulled up. Crap those bombs are huge."

Red Lion dodged the one that Lotor had shot at him.

Keith sighed. "Allura come up here."

Allura stood up and made her wobbly up to the front, giving that Lance had to keep Red moving as he fought Lotor. "Lance contact Lotor."

"Damn it," Lance muttered and he hit a button.

"Have you grown tired, McClain, of this dance, are finally goingto surrender to my superior skills and fire power."

"Fuc..."

"Lotor," Keith said.

"Commander Kogane, is that you? Are in there with McClain, oh to get you both with the new mega bombs."

"Mega bombs, what an original name you gave them Lotor," Lance said.

Allura had the asinine urge to laugh but she held it in.

"Lotor, just call off your attack."

"And why would I do that?"

Keith and Lance exchanged a look. Lance shrugged. Keith groaned and looked at Allura.

"Lotor," Allura said. "Get off my planet."

"Allura? Allura is that you, my pet? You are in the Red Lion as well? Is that why you haven't graced me with your beautiful presence in this battle yet? I had thought they were keeping you from me again, trapped in the Castle. I do hope you are uninjured. McClain was flying quite haphazardly."

"Well, here I am. So will you just leave?"

"You are afraid of the bombs, because of that village by your Castle, because of the people in your castle. I will, I will stop this siege if you do one thing for me Allura."

"Don't do it, Princess!" Hunk yelled over the communications link.

"Tell that stupid oaf to shut his mouth, Kogane."

"Hunk, let me handle this," Keith said. "It's not going to happen Lotor."

"You haven't heard my terms, yet. And I believe it is for Allura to decide."

Lance's hands flexed on the controls, he muted the line, "Let me blow him away, now Keith."

Keith looked tempted. "What are the terms," he asked knowing them, they all knew them.

"McClain and I land in the desert below us, Allura walks over to me, and she and I leave for Doom with the Robeast."

"I'd rather be kissed by a slime beast!" Allura shouted.

"Then we continue to fight here Allura, and sooner or later McClain won't be able to keep me away from one of your burgeoning little villages."

"Give us ten minutes," Keith said.

"You have five, Commander," Lotor said then the feed cut out.

"Keith, you're not serious."

"Of course not, just me think," Keith said, then he started pacing.

Allura walked forward and she looked down and saw one of the craters Lotor's new bombs had left. It was bigger than the width of four or maybe five of the homes her people were living in. She felt sick, and stepped back to grab at the edge of Lance's seat.

Instead she ended up with Lance's hand holding hers and she turned and saw his face, he looked resolved, he wasn't going to let it happen. "Keith," he asked, letting go of her hand. He stood up, gave her nudge, "take the controls for a second."

Allura nodded, slipped into the seat, the second her hands wrapped around the steering controls she felt the full force of Red Lion. The challenging nature, the passion the Lion fed off of, the love for Arus that burned in the heart of it and it's combative way of showing but also it's resolute eerie ruthlesss calm when needed. Allura felt it all, she also felt right in the seat, and realized without a doubt Red would always fly for her not reservations.

Hi, Allura said mentally she was sure she heard a purr in her mind that was a hello in return.

"Oh you're plan is so great?"

"You're plan is a suicide run!"

"My plan knocks out his weapons system, takes away his ability to wreck havoc on the civilians, so I can get you and Allura to the Castle, to the Lions, then we kill the robeast Pidge and Hunk are still dealing with and barely keeping away from a village themselves, Keith."

"If Allura and I switch, he won't notice until it's too late, I can try to him on.."

"And that's not a suicide run after what happened last time you fought him?"

"He won't be expecting me this time."

"Maybe!"

Allura cringed, she felt Space Marshal Graham and General Ash behind her, probably watching Lance and Keith fight, then the control panel beeped and Lotor was there looking at her. She shuddered. "Has a decision been made, my pet?"

"I'm not your anything, Lotor," she spat out.

Keith and Lance both shut up and walked over to the control. "Keith you know which plan we should do," Lance muttered.

"We need a few more minutes, Lotor," Keith said.

"A few more minutes, what do I look like some bloodwine bar waiter? I'll give you five seconds, land or fight!"

Lotor cut the communications.

Lance raised his eyebrows.

"Do it," Keith said.

Lance grabbed a the steering, Allura let go, as soon as Lance sat down, Lotor was readying all his weapons. Lance said a general "Sorry," to everyone, let go of the steering, grabbed Ash's hand and placed it on the steering for a second.

Red started to plummet.

Lance counted to three, then grabbed the controls, Red roared back into life, Lotor ship was right over them, Lotor hadn't had a chance to react or figure out what had happened to the Red Lion. Lance figured it would shock Lotor enough he could pull off what he wanted to do. The second Red roared back to life he pointed her straight up, went to full throttle and yelled magma missiles, targeted Lotor's weapons systems and fired.

Lotor's ship started to spiral out of control, Lance pulled back but kept an eye on it case for once, just once, Lotor didn't pull his ass out of the fire and crashed. He almost did hit the desert but then he pulled up and vanished up into Arus's atmosphere up into space.

"Crap, uh the Robeast just got a size bigger guys," Pidge yelled.

Lance, Keith and Allura groaned. "At least Lotor is gone," Keith muttered. "And why didn't you tell me that's how you planned to get under him?"

"Cause you kept cutting me off," Lance said.

"If you just made it clear," Keith said.

"Both you just need to learn to listen to each other better," Allura said.

"Coran do you have the net out?"

Ash and Graham both said, "Net?"

"Net," Keith said and started to explain the net and how they'd back into the Castle.

Allura felt impatient, she wanted to get into Blue and form Voltron and get the robeast off her planet.

"It's ready," Coran said.

Keith was helping Graham through the door, so Allura turned and looked back at Lance.

He winked at her. She nodded back at him and then hurried out.

~~.~~

It was 3:23 P.M. Keith saw when he landed Black back on it's pedestal. He felt like he'd been up for five days, so much had happened since the Garrison's arrival already. The Doom attack felt like a topping on a really crappy Sundae. But it wasn't, the day still go to go on.

He hoped at least Space Marshal Graham had finally understood about the Lions while he was in Red, how he'd felt the Lion go dead - twice - though the idea of using that a battle technique was insane. Lance insane, so it'd worked, of course. Keith shook his head, maybe he should not cut him off. Especially when his own idea was just as insane, it just had only risked his life and not Allura's, Space Marshal Graham's and General Ash's.

Ash was pissing him off, he'd never liked Lance. Everyone knew it, Graham knew it. No one really knew why, they all their theories, there were a million rumors. Lance slept with his wife, Lance knocked up his daughter. Keith's bet was that Lance irked the guy because he was the better pilot, because Lance could bend the rules of flying and make it work and that was a talent that few pilots had and could get away with. Lance never out and out did anything that wasn't allowable due to Garrison rules, if he had would have been expelled, Ash always tried to claim he had and it was always shot down. Other pilots would then walk up to Lance and say he was one of the best damn pilots they'd ever seen. It was like every time Ash as Lance's instructor tried to knock Lance down, Ash ended up adding to Lance's ego.

Keith still felt it was crazy he had a plaque and a medal buried somewhere in his closet here on Arus, that said he was the most promising pilot of their class. Because it was bull, and everyone knew it. Lance's combat piloting record after graduation proved that radically, it was the reason he was on Voltron Force. He got on the team sent to Arus because of who he was and what he could do, Ash's jealous attempts be damned.

He wanted to talk to Graham about Ash's obvious hatred, and make it clear Lance was his second in command and it was so for a reason. Keith had respected Sven, he'd liked his advice, he'd been more serious, cerebral and cautious than Lance. Everyone was more cautious than Lance. Yet, he'd wanted Lance as his second in command from the start, when they'd thought Sven was going to come back, Keith had had plan to talk to them both and see if Sven minded not getting that position back and Lance wanted to stay on. It'd never happened, thankfully, Keith didn't want to know how awkward it might have been. Lance had seemed unsure of the position at first but in the last year and half he'd been at ease with it and been great at taking the lead when Keith wasn't around or injured.

Keith walked into control room, first, as usual, he had the shortest ride back. Space Marshal Graham walked over to him. "Good work, commander, you and your team work very well together."

Keith inwardly cringed thinking about him and Lance arguing in Red Lion. "For the most part, sir, yes," he said.

Graham chuckled. "You were looking out for Princess Allura and trying to looked out for the larger big picture at the same time in the Red Lion. I remember a lot of arguments with my second-in-command in times like that. I found we both usually right and wrong, and that I cut him off a bit too much too."

Keith nodded, taking the chastisement to heart, Allura probably had a point, he and Lance had gotten to a point in their arguing where they assumed they knew where the other was going. The truth was they probably had no clue. When it came to flying Keith really should know he had no clue what Lance might do.

"I never got to respond to Princess Allura, she asked if I understood better about the Lions, and I think I do now, I felt something in there that was more than just an engine and it vanished when Drake was at the controls." Graham started laughing and shaking his head. "Only Lance McClain would do that on purpose in a gunfight, got to say it was genius."

"I should've listened, I kept trying to figure out how even he could get underneath Lotor's ship fast enough," Keith shook his head.

"You, me and Drake both, Keith," Graham laughed. "In fact when you had no other choice but to let him go ahead I thought Drake might faint."

"Sir, speaking of General Ash?"

Graham held up a hand. "I will be reading his reports on McClain to account for his skewed view, don't worry. I will remind him, again to try to keep his personal feelings out of public discussion."

Keith nodded.

"McClain had the bad luck of being an extremely talented pilot to land in Ash's class at the wrong point in Ash's life," Graham shook his head. "Ah here is the rest of your team."

Keith looked. Allura and Lance walked in side by side, behind them were Hunk and Pidge, all chattering at once. He smiled and probably a bit more than he should when Allura caught his gaze and grinned back at him.

"Space Marshal Graham was just telling me he understands about the Lions," Keith said.

"Yes, Princess Allura. I will recommend that the Garrison revert to your plan for the back up pilots for Voltron. Combat experience, and vetted by Commander Kogane and Lieutenant McClain."

"Thank you," Allura said, smiling. "I appreciate that greatly."

"I will not sign off on that Graham," Ash said.

"Drake."

"What he did out there was irresponsible, and risky, especially with the Princess of Arus on board, Keith's idea though not great was much more feasible as it only risked one life, not four."

"We didn't have time to implement my plan, sir, so I went with Lance's and if I'd listened to his idea instead of arguing with him," Keith said but was cut off by Ash.

"You would have time to implement your plan."

"No, sir, I would have gone with his."

Ash frowned, he cleared his throat. "I will admit the flying was fine. The plan was too risky."

"Did you just say my flying was fine?" Lance asked, then he started laughing. "Huh."

Ash glared at him. "Only because that Drule prince is brilliant and did manage not get us blown up."

He then walked away. "Of course, I'm second to Lotor now, great." Lance muttered.

"Space Marshal Graham, please excuse me for a second?" Allura said.

Keith looked at her wondering where she was planning to go.

Graham nodded at her.

Instead of walking away she grabbed Lance's wrist and his wrist and when they both looked at her she snapped. "What the HELL IS WRONG WITH THAT BASTARD," she then cleared her throat and added. "Can we get him off my planet as quickly as possible please?"

Lance started laughing, Keith stared at her there were times when she just flat out surprised him. He knew she could angry, blue eyes a blazing hot blue fire, this wasn't that angry but she was mad. Mad and she disliked Ash, more than a little. He wasn't just annoying her, he was making her hate him like she hated Lotor and Zarkon. It shouldn't surprise him, she saw them as her family, she'd said more than once. He didn't find it funny though that she was upset by his behavior, he was glad he'd already talk to Graham. Space Marshal Graham decided to answer her question, before Keith could find the words after his shock at her ire and her language.

"Princess, I will tell you and Lieutenant McClain what I have already told Commander Kogane on the subject. I will be reminding him to act more professionally in regards to his personal opinion on Lieutenant McClain. And also, any of his reports on McClain will be read by me with his extreme bias in mind. In fact, as a very good pilot myself, back in the day, I thought today you were quite genius. Though, I wouldn't expect less given your record. That last plummet," Graham started laughing again. "Only you," he said. "I am going to go make a report into Earth, and make some decisions about the rest of our stay here on Arus."

"One more thing," Allura said, stopping Graham. Keith watched her, she let go of his wrist, but not Lance's he noticed at least not right away.

"Yes," Graham said, turning around.

"I want something to be clear. Understand that Garrison wants to evaluate the team, I'm curious as to how I'll stand up the boys, but I want it crystal clear. The Voltron Force, is Keith, Lance, Pidge and Hunk. Myself, or Sven Holgersson in Blue Lion. Back up pilots to be found and vetted as discussed. I won't allow the Garrison any decision-power in regards to Voltron. As the Princess of Arus I have the right to speak for Voltron, it's right and it's an honor I will not take lightly."

Keith couldn't help but notice it was around the end of her speech, her hand finally fell from Lance's wrist. He tried not to be upset, somehow he'd become some guru of the Lions to her, and Keith couldn't say it didn't make sense. Lance had always spoken about feeling Red with more depth than the rest of them, Keith felt like he was the most connected to his Lion then the rest of them. He got the sentience thing the most of out of all them, being the most easily adaptable out of them, Keith felt it, he believed in it, it felt poetic to him in his heart. He'd been raised on facts and seeing is believing, being Black day after day made the connection stronger and he'd believed. Lance had been the first say the Lions wouldn't want green pilots, and he'd been right, he got why Allura turned to him to fix it, he knew she'd believe him from the start. She'd said almost the same thing without talking to Lance at all about it first.

It had to be the best friend thing they had going that her thinking like him, Keith thought. Or maybe she always had all along, but she still thought like him too, he thought.

He was so lost in his thoughts he realized he'd missed Graham's response to Allura, he was across the room and leaving it. Allura was smiling though, and she was looking at Lance. The words she said made Keith really happy.

"Lance?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Would go for a walk with Keith me around the lake, but you know like ten feet back?"

"I could make it twenty feet back," Lance said.

"Keep it at ten," Keith said. "Because that's the rule."

Lance shrugged. "Change first?" he asked all them.

"Of course," Allura said, then she took off on them.

"Keith," Lance said.

"Yeah," Keith said watching Allura leave the control room.

"Your girlfriend swore."

Keith finally laughed, the moment flashing before him again. "It was kind of hot," he admitted.

"She's always hot when she's angry," Lance said with his usual casual air. "I'm going to go change."

"Keith, you need us to do anything?" Hunk asked, ignoring the fact Keith was glaring after Lance who had walked off, oblivious.

"Just relax, wait to find out what happens next with Graham and Ash," Keith said, telling himself Lance had said it to rile him up and not because he really thought that. Yet something in the back of Keith's head was telling him that Lance hadn't really heard what he said, and didn't that mean it was truth?


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Allura kept closing her eyes to heighten her other senses. To heighten the feel of the breeze off the lake against her skin, it was a cool autumn breeze and it was in direct contrast to the heat that Keith gave off. His body temperature was higher than anyone else she knew. He gave off heat, his hand was warm against hers, the callouses on his hands welcomed patches of roughness. The breeze was strong, so she could hear the wind on the water, and in the trees, she could hear their steps, and Lance's behind them - and Lance's voice if not his words. He was on his phone, she smiled, and she hoped he made some headway with Lara; only because it was what he wanted.

"Today went better than I thought it would after how it began," Allura said.

Keith was quiet for awhile and then he nodded. "I'm sorry the Garrison doesn't really make it easy on you. You were great with them, Space Marshal Graham understands more about Voltron now at least."

Allura nodded, looking up at Keith's profile, his nose, his eyes, his jawline, he was so handsome, so perfectly handsome. She stopped gripped his hand and moved them over to a rock she saw that looked toward the lake. "Let's sit," she said.

Keith moved with her, easily, sat next her and then lifted the hand he was still holding and kissed her hand. Gallantly, romantically, warmth flooded her and her stomach flipped at the epic romance of the action. "I thought, maybe you were getting a bit miffed me at me, sometimes, today?" Allura admitted.

Keith shook his head. "No, I wasn't mad, I was just worried about the fact that General Ash, he doesn't like you."

Allura rolled her eyes, she wasn't worried about what General Ash thought. "I don't must care what a man who can't see past his own nose to see how great a pilot Lance is, thinks about me."

Keith laughed. "That's the thing Allura. You walked into the meeting after Ash had fit about Lance saying something and then you said the exact the same thing, give or take."

"Did I?" Allura asked, she giggled. "Well, that explains why he looked like he lost all respect he had for me bases solely on my title from just one speech of mine."

Keith shook his head. "You and Lance, I'm still getting used to the friendship you two have and how you both just read the Lions better than the rest of us. You sounded so terrified when you came on the line with they went dead, and you asked him to fix it..." Keith sighed.

Allura touched Keith's cheek, making his dark eyes, so brown they were nearly black looking her hers. She shook her head slightly, trying to find a way to explain why she turned to Lance when it came to the Lions, why she had to turn to him. "You're my hero Keith, you know that," she leaned up and kissed him on the lips, a sweet press of her lips against his.

His hand came up to her cheek, the one holding her hand dropped to her waist, gripped at her hip. She pulled away but stayed inside the bubble of kissing space, which was how she'd begun to think of it.

Keith grinned, then he was kissing her. Kissing her, surrounding her with all his heat, his arms around her, the hand on her hip coming up to cup at her cheek. She kissed him back, happy to press her lips against his forever if she could, she hummed happily into the kiss, smiling a bit to try to tell Keith that. He made a noise back and then suddenly his tongue was in her mouth.

Her eyes startled open, because they'd closed they always closed when kissing, she stopped still for a second and it was enough for Keith to notice and his own eyes flew open and he pulled back.

"Sorry," Keith said.

Allura felt her cheeks flaming, it was new, it'd just been surprising she didn't know, why had no one told her anything of these things? She felt warm and fuzzy and it hadn't been awful, it'd been nice just a surprise.

"No," Allura said, shaking her head, "No, sorry, uh, do it again," she said with a bright smile, trying to relax, telling herself she was ready for it this time and trying to get her body to stop flushing what had to be a bright pink.

Keith kissed her lips, annoyingly chastely, his thumbs running up and down her cheekbones as he gazed into her eyes. "I'm not going to rush you."

"You aren't rushing me, trust me, there is no rush. I want to see where you were going, you just surprised me. And the more I think about the more logical it seems that tongues would be part of kissing and I'm just the most sheltered naive nineteen year old in the world. Thank you, Nanny and Coran," Allura rolled her eyes and was starting to get mad now. "I could kill them, so kiss me with the tongue, or I'm walking over to Lance to ask him about it," she said, throwing in the threat about Lance to really make sure she got her own way. She was naive, she wasn't stupid.

"Hell no, Lance is not telling you a damn thing about french kissing."

"French kissing? French? Isn't that a language on Earth?"

"Yeah. They speak it in France."

"What does that have to... you know what, never mind. Are you going to kiss me again or what, Keith?"

Keith was smiling at her now, he bent down and pressed his mouth to hers, she sighed into the kiss, the warm fuzzy feeling she always had when he kissed her, the push and pull of their lips, her hands around his neck, moved into his silky dark hair. This time when his tongue slipped into her mouth, she didn't suddenly freeze in shock, she let it slip in and slide against her own tongue, slide against her teeth, the roof of her mouth, side of her mouth, he pulled way and pushed it back in. They'd break for air and come back in and after a few more times, Allura let her own tongue slide into his mouth and Keith let out this monster moan kissed her for a more minutes, of their tongues sliding together then suddenly pushed her away.

She beamed up at him, feeling a little high from all the kissing, the warmth and the belly flips it always made her feel and stared at his black eyes, they were alway so black after they made out for so long. "What is it?" she asked.

"We, we, need go back in, it's getting close to five, Graham might be looking for us."

"Oh," Allura nodded. She looked around and saw Lance had walked over to where the bench was, their bench, he wasn't on the phone anymore, he was just sitting looking up at the sky. "Go on ahead, I want to talk to Lance a bit."

Keith was already walking but he stalled out. "About?"

Allura laughed. "About the lions and Ash, not about us."

"Good, right, okay," he said, then he was gone.

Allura sighed, she loved that he was a responsible man and good soldier but sometimes it was a pain. She really hadn't gotten enough of that new way of kissing. It definitely made her feel a lot more warm, fuzzy and all high on Keith love on the inside.

She sat down on the bench next to Lance, he immediately put an arm around her. "Why is tongue kissing called French kissing?" she asked, feeling that wasn't necessarily talking about her and Keith.

Lance started laughing so hard, he started to choke, he leaned forward and Allura hit him on his back. When he got his breath back he said. "Uh, I'm not really sure, popular theory is it's because France and the French language are considered really romantic."

"Oh," Allura said. "Okay."

Lance leaned back up and slung his arm around her again. "French kissing, are we?"

"Maybe," Allura said.

Lance shook his head. "Busy day, I feel like I've been up for days, we haven't even had dinner yet. I keep telling myself to ignore Ash, but a few more things out of that guys pie-hole..."

"I could banish him from my Castle," Allura offered, she met Lance's gaze when he gave her sideline look, she meant it she'd never really hated someone who wasn't trying to destroy her planet as much as she disliked Ash. "I mean it."

"That isn't a good idea, Allura. He's with the Garrison."

"Your my best friend, and that's more important. Thank you for everything you did today, standing up for the Lions, Voltron, Arus."

"It was nothing, just did my job, plus arguing with Keith is part of our general day."

"He wanted to go over to Lotor pretending to be me didn't he," Allura asked, shivering at the thought, the thought Keith doing that, facing Lotor again, possibly nearly dying or dying for her. "I wish he wouldn't do that."

"What, being a dork with a hero complex, don't wish for something that won't happen, Allura. At least it's good to know if he'd listened to me he would have gone with my plan, and our argument gave him no time for his so he had to put his faith in mine."

Allura laughed. "I was a little ticked at you when I saw you put Ash's hand on the controls. But then I realized what you were doing, it was pretty brilliant, Lotor was probably confused as heck."

Lance shrugged. "It was the only way I could think of to under him fast enough to lock on his weapons system. Knock it out, there was a seventy-five percent chance he'd crash, but he's too good of a pilot for that, but it was hundred percent that he was out of the battle."

Allura snuggled into him, a breeze causing a shiver to roll through her. Lance pulled her in, "Want the jacket?"

"No, not yet," she said. "So, how are they going to evaluate us?"

"They'll watch do practice drills, probably run by Ash. Combat situations. Hand to hand stuff. Obstacle course in and out of the Lions. Nothing we can't handle. You'll do great, by the way. Don't let the overprotective get in your head."

"I won't," she yawned. "Oh, it does feel like we've been up for days, I think we should go inside before I fall asleep on you."

Lance laughed, he stood up and offered her his hand. She grabbed it, he pulled her up and she tripped on a rock that poking up out the grass and fell into him. They staggered back a bit, Lance grabbing onto her by her hips to keep her from falling as he instinctually kept his balance. "Whoa, aren't we sleepy and klutzy," he said staring down at her.

Allura felt a strange buzz shoot up her spine from his hands on her hips, from being so close to him, she was firmly in his kissing bubble, his lips were right there, as were hers. She felt dizzy and weird, and suddenly very awake. "Uh, yeah," she laughed, stepping back.

As they fell into step walking back up to the Castle, Allura asked the question she knew she didn't want the the answer too. "Have you talked to Lara? Keith said she ran off on you last night?"

Lance shook his head. "It wasn't what it looked like to Keith. I accused her of caring about what happened to you. She wasn't happy about that, because she prides herself on thinking women can protect themselves."

"What would she want to protect me from?"

"Something she and I talked about. I want to check it out first, though, Allura. But then I'll tell you all about it. I think it's something you should be looking into and doing something about as Princess."

"It's about Arus?"

"You're people, yeah."

Allura stopped walking and grabbed him by his forearm. "Lance, what?"

He stopped. "Look, I'm going out tonight, sneaking out probably from the looks of it, to check it out with Lara. I'll give you a full report then, until then I don't want to worry you."

Rage filled her, he was the one she could count on not to do this to her, her hand came up and before she knew what she was doing she slapped him.

"What the hell?"

"You, you aren't supposed to hide things from me, you tell me the truth, no matter what, you don't treat me like someone to protect!" she yelled and she stomped off.

~~.~~

Lance cheek stung but the words bothered him more and hurried after her. Her long blonde hair was flying after her, looking like whips she was moving so fast, she looked beyond pissed the way she was stalking. He caught up to her the door, his hand slamming it shut again just as she opened it.

"Allura, listen."

"Why, so you explain how you don't want to worry the little princess doll?"

"No."

"Because the little princess doll can't know anything that would worry her, or upset her, and she has to wear pretty pink dresses because that's what dolls wear, and of course the Garrison should bring a pilot to take away Blue Lion from her, who cares that it's one of the most right things in her life. Oh and the pretty pink princess doll shouldn't know anything about kissing and sex so that when her boyfriend puts his tongue in her mouth and she acts surprised he thinks he as to apologize...no because we must keep her under wraps, all locked up in the original packaging. Hell, maybe Nanny and Coran tried to keep me in the WOMB. I would have been save in there, wouldn't I have been, Lance!"

Lance waited a beat this time, he wanted to sure she was done. This rant had been building for awhile. Who knew how long she'd been burying it down, letting things fester, thinking things but not dealing with them. She said things to him, now and again about how sheltered they kept her. How she hated always being so protected, but then she smiled and went on. She fought for her little liberties and took them with a grin and fierce determination.

"Did you say no?" Allura suddenly asked.

"Uh, yeah, I did."

"Oh."

"You feel better now?"

"No," she said, and touched his cheek. "I'm sorry, oh god, I hit and I slapped you today, I'm sorry."

"I told you to hit me, Allura."

"Still, you still all bruised," she looked at his neck, pushing down the collar of his leather jacket.

"Lara told me about an underground city, Allura. Where people who don't feel they fit in are hiding. People who need psychological help from the time before we got here, who can't deal with the rebuilding while the attacks are still going on. Where there are brothels, which you know is on every planet really but I actually thought didn't exist on Arus. Divier bars, where the people who just don't fit are hiding. I just wanted to check it out before telling you, I wasn't going to keep anything from you, I swear."

Allura took in a sharp breath. "Hookers, that is what brothel means, right? People with PTSD? Other people who just don't fit in? I wonder if the Seers and Sorcerers are?"

"Maybe. Look if you want to come with me and Lara, I'm sneaking out around 11 tonight."

Allura stared at him, her eyes wide and then said, shock evident in her voice, "You are asking me to sneak out with you and do this?"

"Yeah, of course, you're right. It's your people, it's your planet. It's the whole reason when Lara told me about it I wanted to check it out. I thought you needed to know," Lance explained. She'd gotten to him, going ahead without was treating her like everyone else did and he may not have said it out loud but they did kind of have a tacit promise that he wouldn't do that. That he wouldn't protect her like the others did, he protect by being open, honest and in her face. He couldn't start breaking it now, she'd had every right to get mad at him, maybe not slaphappy mad at him but mad at him.

Allura stood there staring at him a bit longer and then she flung herself at him, her arms around his neck, her body flush against him, her cheek against his, and her breathe in his ear. "I love you!"

Lance had sudden appreciation for the hell she put Keith through, she was all soft, curves of a perfect body, all pressed against him. Her damn hair was covering his nose and it smelled like that purple flower Lara had told him about, all sweet honey-vanilla, and then she said 'I love you.' Lance swallowed, tried to push away the mixed feelings of warmth and lust the flooded through him and gently hugged her back, before pushing her away and establishing the normal distance between them.

"Was that a yes?"

"Yes, if this is going on I need to know it, I need to see it, before I can even begin to know how to do something about it to help them," Allura said. "Also, I want to know all about it before bring it to Coran, because..."

"What?"

"What if he already knows and hasn't told me, and is doing nothing for them?"

Lance sighed. "I don't think Coran would ignore people who need help, Allura."

"Maybe, maybe not," Allura sighed. "He sometimes, sometimes he likes to focus on what can be done, not what can't be done right now, and what could be done but not easily."

"Huh," Lance didn't like he sound of that, but he knew she knew how Coran worked better than he did. "Okay, meet me in the kitchen around 11?"

Allura nodded. "I will, thank you."

Lance shrugged off her thanks. "Uh, try not to look like a princess, I don't think that's a good idea."

Allura nodded. "I understand."

Lance's communicator beeped, he picked it up. "Are you still with Allura," Keith's voice said. "Yep," Lance said. "Come straight back to the conference room, they've decided on the evaluating schedule. First one starts after dinner, which is after the meeting."

"Gotcha," Lance said. "Come on," he said to Allura opening the door and opening it for her.


	22. Chapter 22

_Quick Note:_ Short chapter tonight, got hit with the cold stick of doom the other day. But didn't want to not post something today.

Chapter 22

Evaluations for the night were obstacle courses in the lions and Voltron, Ash had made the courses, Lance noticed that his was a level higher on difficulty than the rest of the teams but decided to just keep his mouth shut. He'd flown through it fine, good speed, hit the targets and hadn't lost any ships marked 'civilian.'

It'd been nine when they made their way back into the Castle, and Keith ordered everyone to bed, since it was an early wake up call for hand to hand, and on the ground obstacle courses. Lance slept for forty-five minutes, got up and hit the shower, as he stepped out of it he heard the chime on his door, then someone using a code to unlock it. Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it around his body and hoped it wasn't Keith wanting to obsess about how everyone had done so far.

He stepped out of his bathroom as Allura stepped into his room, he knew it was Allura from the pink pant suit otherwise he'd wouldn't have had a clue. She had her hair pulled so tightly back that it wasn't recognizable, it let up to a high pony tail, only she'd plaited her hair into a thick long braid. She'd used the make up create a harsher version of herself, she looked at least five years older. So far, Lance was certain he'd been the only one to notice she was even wearing make up, she'd only used it to subtly bring out her cheekbones with a soft blush, with a bit of eye make up to bring out how wide her eyes are and a bit of color on her lips.

She looked him up and down and he noticed she was blushing underneath the blush, and he finished cinching the towel to his waist walked behind her to close the door behind her. "What are you doing here, I told you the kitchen."

"I got my face and hair all unprincess then opened my wardrobe. This was all I saw. Pantsuits in pink, row after row." Allura used her hands to present herself in the pink pantsuit. "Doesn't matter what I do here," she said, waving her hand in front of her face. "Anyone with a brain is going to know who I am."

Lance took it all in again, her hair, her face, the stupid pink pants suit and he shook his head. "I got an idea," he said. He crossed the room and picked up his cell phone where it'd left it charging on his bureau.

Allura walked over to the other side of his room, poking through his bookcase, Lance tried to smirk as her eyes kept popping over to look at him in the towel, she was acting like she'd never seen him without a shirt on before, which was rather ridiculous.

"I'm about to leave," Lara snapped at him instead of saying hello. "So, if you're rushing me."

"Not rushing you, was hoping to catch you, bring something for Allura to wear."

"Allur - Princess Allura?"

"Do you know any other Allura's?"

"She is coming with us?"

"Yes."

"I thought you weren't going to tell her."

"I told you I hadn't made any final decisions. I made a final decision. She's coming with us and she needs something to wear down there to be incognito so will you bring her something to wear."

"Great, fine, I can throw something together. Are you sure she can handle this?"

"Yes," He said and he hung up and looked over at Allura, holding one his books and looking right at him. "She's going to bring you something, just stay here, I'll go out and meet her, bring her in and then the three of us can sneak out after you change."

"When did you get that tattoo?"

Lance internally rolled his eyes, that was what it was it, he he hadn't hadn't had the tattoo last time they'd gone swimming, or that he'd gotten hot enough to take off his top during hand to hand. In fact he hadn't had the tattoo before the future, it'd been a weird impulsive moment when he'd been in the city with L.T. one day letting the kid show him the Arus of the future. He'd never planned to get a tattoo in his life because he hated needles, loathed them, but the sign said painless/needle-less tattoos and he asked the kid and the kid explained shrugged. He didn't get the science, but he loved getting the tattoos.

"I got it in the future," he said.

Allura looked down at it again, red lion flying over his hip bone, her mouth curved into a smile. "It is red lion then, that red lion, the one from..."

"The paintings, yeah, guilty. But I mean, there are solo paintings of just the lions you know. He did them in mini in the family portraits, whoever the guy was. I just, I loved this one, couldn't stop staring."

"Over the second moon," Allura said.

"Yeah, almost got the damn thing, but I thought that would be overkill. Plus the second anyone sees this thing, I've got a lot of explaining to do. They all know I'm anti-tattoo from huge fear of needles."

"You do. I got one of his paintings of Blue too," Allura admitted.

Lance felt his eyes brows go to his hairline, Allura grinned up at him. "That tattoo shop, Laurie too me by it and I was curious and then the next thing I knew...it's from the same painting, with the moons. It was just so gorgeous, the Arus sky and the Lions against it, especially the large version."

"Uh huh," Lance said, his eyes roaming trying to guess where she'd put it, it wasn't all that shocking to him really. Allura was the type, she loved something she romanticized it, it wasn't a stretch to think she'd want to immortalize it forever. "You know Keith has a tattoo..." he was saying when his door chimed.

Allura's eyes went wide with fear, Lance pointed to his bathroom. Allura rushed in and clicked the door closed. Lance opened his door to find Keith standing there. Keith eyed him up and down, lazily, bored, but then did a slight double take. "What the hell is that, a decal?"

Lance decided to go with that. "Yep, a decal, permament ink too, lasting longer than I thought it would. What's up boss?"

Keith was still looking at the red lion tattoo, frowning. "That's a lot of detail for a decal, that's a lot of detail for tattoo, it looks like it was painted."

"Maybe I had Lara draw on it on me," Lance said.

Keith looked up and met Lance's eyes. "Draw it on you," he said.

"Yeah, why not," Lance said.

"You got a damn tattoo," Keith said, pushing his way into Lance's room and sitting at the end of his bed. "One that had to have taken weeks with all that detail."

"So?"

"You won't even let the doc give you a booster shot, with Hunk and me holding you down. Next time you're due for a shot you better not give me hell."

"Okay look, the tattooist was a hot chick and she did a LOT of favors in exchange for the right to tattoo the red lion on me. I mean a lot of favors, Keith...we're talking dirty, bendy, tied me up..."

"Shut it," Keith said and he shook his head. "I don't want to talk about your kinky sexcapades."

Sitting on his bed next to Keith, Lance tried to figure out how to get Keith out of his room. "Then stop talking about the needles I had to deal with to get this beauty," Lance said, "Cause sex was the trade off."

"You're unbelievable," Keith shook his head. "It's no wonder, Lara isn't talking you seriously."

It hurt, what Keith said and Lance had to focus hard not to feel offended. It wasn't Keith fault, he'd walked right into it, and he'd been the guy living the life that that lie made sense for. But he was serious about wanting to try with Lara. "Yeah, well, I wish someone besides me would believe I'm serious."

"I think my girlfriend believes you," Keith said.

"Yeah, Allura has my back." Hmm, Allura, Back? That was a possibility for the Blue Lion tattoo. Lance shook his head he needed to focus. "Why are you here?"

"Graham sent me the courses, I just finished watching how everyone did. He especially wanted my opinion on your course, my statement on it's level of difficulty as compared to mine and the others. I wanted your statement on it, before I wrote him my response, you're the one who managed to make Ash eat dirt again."

"Ash gave the rest of a level 10, I guess he made up a level 11 for me, that's all. He just upped the ante a bit, it was still easier than any combat situation I've ever flown in and that's really the thing isn't it? My comment is I'll fly through whatever he wants to throw at me. I don't have the time to argue with him, or to let him bait me like he did back in school, Keith. I just want to get through this and get him off the planet."

"I hate that he can get away with it, Graham says it's being noted, Graham's probably going to reprimand him, but I doubt it goes anywhere."

"When you reprimand me where does it go?"

"That's different," Keith said leaning back on the bed.

Lance stared at his best friend, looked at the bathroom door where his other best friend was hiding and looked at his alarm clock's digital screen, ten maybe less, minutes until Lara might be getting to the kitchen door.

"Why?"

"You're an smartass not an asshole," Keith chuckled.

"Oh, yeah you're so smart. Uh, Keith..."

"Yeah?"

"I took a shower for a reason."

Keith rose up on his arms. "No?"

"Uh, yeah," Lance smirked.

"Damn it, for fuck's sake. You know I can't deal with you getting laid every night, she's not even giving you a commitment."

"Not out of the bed...yet."

Keith hopped up. "She has to be out of here before sunset."

"She will be. I swear."

Keith gave him a long look. "Did she tell you?"

"Who, tell me what?" Lance asked, not quite sure he was reading Keith's look right, even though he was pretty sure the 'she' in the conversation had switched from Lara to Allura.

"Allura, kissing," Keith lowered his voice, like he always did when they were talking about his sex life. Lance always wondered who he thought might be listening in.

"She wondered about why it was called french kissing," Lance whispered back, having to mock Keith to his face.

Keith sighed. "So you know."

"I got a clue or two."

"They've sheltered her, completely. I mean I knew but I'm started to see your point about not lying when she asks a question more..." Keith sighed.

"Good."

Keith shook his head, "Later, later, uh, sunset, Lance."

"Right." Lance said and then Keith was gone, leaving Lance with the impression they were going to have a talk about how Keith was going to handle Allura's lack of sexual knowledge, that Keith was actually going to talk to him about it. Lance wasn't sure if that amused him or terrified him.

He walked over to the bathroom door, knocked on it. "He's gone."

Allura came out of the room. Lance went to his closet and pulled out the black cargo pants, and black hooded sweatshirt he planned to wear for the night. He tossed them on the bed, walked over to his bureau pulled out a pair of boxers with smiley faces all over them. Allura started laughing.

He turned around, "What?"

"Really?" she asked, looking at his underwear.

Lance smirked at her. "Oh and what do you have on under that pink pantsuit, sweetheart? Something pink?"

Allura stuck her tongue out at him. "It's just, you're you, the guy who gets all the girls, with the bad boy sexy thing and then they get you out of your pants and smiley faces?"

"I don't wear these on dates," Lance laughed, as he went into the bathroom.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Allura watched the door close behind him and frowned, then what did he wear on dates, and wasn't he seeing Lara tonight? Did that mean he didn't expect anything to happen to with her, tonight? Allura sighed and walked over to the mirror that hung on the inside of Lance's closet door.

She couldn't believe what make up could do, bolder colors, a bit heavier on the shading and she looked like a completely different person. Rather she would look like a completely different person if she wasn't stuck wearing pink. She wondered what Lara would bring her to wear. Something black, or blue maybe. Something more fitted to her to body, that might show off her curves better. All her pantsuits did was hide her curves, Nanny insisting on too high a waistline and not tailoring them exactly to Allura's size. The more in shape Allura got, the worse Nanny was about not tailoring the pantsuits to her size.

"You must be demure, Princess."

Demure. Allura sighed. Though the next time Nanny saw her in just a bra and panties she was going to have heart attack about the tattoo. Seeing Lance's own tattoo had reminded her. Allura smiled, suppressing a nervous giggle. She couldn't believe that he had done the same thing as her, from the same painting of their Lions. The weirdest part was the location chosen, but she wasn't going to read into it, it was a perfectly logical place for anyone to choose to place a tattoo. On their hip, so what if they both had picked the right hip.

The bathroom door opened and Lance walked out, Allura looked up and realized he didn't look at all like himself. He'd been up for so long he definitely needed to shave, the hair on his face was darker than the red-brown on his head. He hadn't done whatever he usually did to his hair that kept it off his face out of his eyes. It was hanging straight down, bangs in his eyes, and the black made him look really pale, almost washed out. He rarely wore black, she realized, that had to be why. It definitely worked to make him appear as if he was someone else and not Lance McClain the pilot of Red Lion.

"Okay, come on," Lance said. "Show me."

Allura gave him her best innocent look.

Lance laughed, walked over to her, stood behind her and turned them so they were both looking in the mirror. "That look, doesn't sell with that make up job, Allura."

Allura rolled her eyes. "I can't show you without completely taking off this thing, it's a one piece you know."

"Then you're showing me at some point during the changing into whatever Lara brings," Lance said. "She should be hear, soon, I'll be back."

"Wait," Allura said, remembering something.

"What?"

"You were going to me about a tattoo Keith has," Allura reminded him, he looked up at him waiting. "Spill."

Lance laughed. "He has two. One of his back of a Katana, it goes down his spine. The second is one is right below it on his lower back, it's Japanese, he says it's the oath we took to protect Arus. He wanted a permanent reminder of our purpose, duty and promise."

It was perfectly Keith, Allura thought, so him and she shook her head. "I wish I could see them," she whispered and walked over to Lance's bed to sit down.

Lance stared at her. "Uh, Allura, you're his girlfriend, you can see them."

Allura shook her head. "No, I can't, I shouldn't even had seen you," she said. "Coran in his infinite wisdom about relationships, made Keith and I promise that we'd date for over three years before any clothing came off."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, and you notice, in three years is when I can marry, and he made Keith probably swear on his life that I remain a virgin until that day."

Lance sighed. "Next time he goes in for a shower in the locker room, sneak in and take a peek."

Allura turned red.

Lance laughed. "I'll be right back," he said again and left her alone.

Take a peek, he says, Allura sighed. She'd love to take a peek. If she thought she could get Keith to bend the rules, or break any of the rules, she'd try to cajole him into showing her. She knew she could bring up the conversation of tattoo's casually, there had to be a way he could show her his back without taking off his clothes? He could just lift up. It's not like she could tell him about her tattoo. Though she wished she could.

Keith was so noble and he was afraid that Coran would take away his right to see her over any infraction he was being an extreme stickler for the rules they had to follow to date one and another. Even more so about anything else, she was now understanding though Keith was noble and responsible he wasn't necessarily completely by the book. It was compared to Lance that she had always assumed Keith to be more by the book; brave, a bit too ready to risk his own life to save her, or anybody else for that matter, but stalwart and living by the rules of a soldier.

Maybe the rules just weren't necessarily as a Garrison soldier. She always knew Lance's weren't, it was obvious, he said so when they all looked at them and said that isn't policy. Lance would just ask how is policy going to save their asses?

Allura liked the honesty of Lance and she knew she'd always been drawn to the mystery of Keith. Now there was more mystery, a tattoo she knew about but couldn't see and couldn't ask questions about. How was she going to keep her mouth shut, she was curious, she was impatient, Allura sighed. She shouldn't have reminded Lance he was going to tell her anything.

Lance's door flew open and as usual Lara entered the room as a whirlwind. "I brought a few things, because I wasn't sure what of my stuff would fit her, and still can't believe I am taking the Princess to the underground city, this is not a good idea... Hi, Allura."

Allura instantly stood taller, hearing Lara's opinion on her coming. "Why isn't it a good idea?"

Lara was two inches taller than Allura and she was always wearing heels that made her tower over her; at the question Lara straightened out holding a mess of dark clothes in her hands and looked down at Allura. Her eyes widened a bit, Allura realized she was taking in her hair and make up for the first time. "Well, to be honest, given what I know about how sheltered you've been Princess, I don't think you can handle the culture shock."

"Which is precisely why I should know what is going on. It's shock, fear, and not feeling as if they belong on the surface that has a lot of the people in this underground city, under there. We aren't just talking things that belong underground, things that go into an underground in any culture, like the prostitution or the gambling. We are talking about my people, my people who have been psychologically damaged, people who feel they don't feel in and have fallen through cracks that I was unaware were out there and I would like to stop up. So therefore, I will be going. Now what did you bring for me to wear?"

Allura watched as Lara's green eyes went from her to Lance and then back again. "You make good points, points I agree with," she started throwing stuff on Lance's bed. "I brought a few different pairs of skinny jeans, because I don't know what brand, cut whatever will fit you best and we are definitely different sizes. Then a brought various tops and some jackets to wear over them."

Allura nodded and started to go through the clothes, everything was black, which Allura knew made sense. Lance was in black, Lara was in black. They wanted to blend in and not be seen where they were going, though Lara looked stunning in what she was wearing. Black scoop neck top, a short skirt, black tights and a pair of amazing black leather boots with heels. Her jacket was short and leather too. It all looked good against her pale skin and red hair, Allura wondered if the black would wash her out like Lance, or work with her skin like Lara?

Allura held up a few of the jeans to herself, then went through the tops, trying to tell herself the silence in the small room was comfortable and not at all awkward. She chose two pairs of jeans to try on, and two of the tops and then made her way into Lance's bathroom.

Inside she pulled off her black combat boots, which she rarely wore since their flight suits were mostly white, for whatever reason, she had never liked their design. She'd been trying to talk Coran into letting her redesign them for ages, but he wouldn't listen to her. She'd like the more form fitting, black designs she'd seen in the future, with the Lion's colors added in for the pilot. They'd been much more streamlined, of course they'd had lighter and better material to work with for combat material...but there had to be something out there that could be used now for flight suits that wouldn't look so stupid on the five of them. The black one was the only one that looked good, and no one was wearing it.

The first pair of jeans she pulled on fit perfect, so she didn't bother looking at the other pair. They were a dark black, she pulled on her black combat boots, tugging them tightly closed and smiled. This was good, she felt so much more comfortable already. Jeans were so much more her casual style than stupid pantsuits, and she liked black better than pink, of course at this point in time Allura thought she might pick vomit green over pink - she wrinkled her nose, okay maybe that was taking it a little too far.

Allura looked at the tops, she picked up the less faded black top, Lara must have worn it less, or it was newer and hadn't been washed as much. Pulling it on over her head, she looked into the bathroom mirror and felt like she saw herself. Maybe herself with a little too much make up on, but herself. Her hair out of her way in a less granny way - really a bun, was she eighty -, wearing a simple black top with a simple scoop neck cut that showed she was girl but didn't show off to much skin. At least not by Allura's standards, by Nanny's she was naked. She sighed, she smoothed her hands down the top and looked down and noticed the jaws of blue lion peeking out over the hem of the jeans top. They were low on her hips, which was why, she smiled, she figured that would be okay, lot's of Arusian girls probably had tattoos of Blue lion, or some lion.

She picked up the clothes of Lara's she wasn't going to be wearing and put them over one arm, then put her pantsuit over the other. Then she opened the door of the bathroom but stopped before she had even more than halfway open, her eyes wide, her cheeks flushing, she felt completely frozen in place.

The closet door with the mirror was angled in just the right way that she could see Lance and Lara on his bed. She'd seen them kissing before, she knew that hands disappeared into places, clothes seemed to get all rumpled but she'd never consciously thought about it. Now she was. From what she could see in the mirror, Lara was flat on her back, Lance had her shirt rucked up, completely, for a second Allura was distracted by her bra - it was plain, boring with a stupid pink bow in the center like she was still eight. It was black, lacy, and looked shiny but then Allura got distracted by Lance kissing the bra itself, then Lara's skin and then seeing naked breast, nipple and she closed the door.

With an accidental slam.

Allura turned around and walked as far away from the door as she could get, which wasn't far, Lance's bathroom was small, toilet, sink, shower. It all he needed, but it wasn't great for hiding. For a brief second she considered hiding in the shower but he'd find her.

The door opened. She rolled her eyes at herself, steeled herself and decided they weren't going to talk about the virgin who just saw too much. Turning around, she saw him looking at her, with that amused look he sometimes got when she things she didn't normally deal with came up. He clicked the door closed, she looked at him. "Maybe you should've worn the date underwear," Allura said.

Lance laughed, and opened the door behind him, he'd never taken his hand off the knob, then winked at her before turning and walking out. "Okay, ladies, we are ready to go."

Allura loved him for reading her so well.

~~.~~

She was the youngest among the them, the five of them. The old couple her mentors, Ara and Tarus, the other two men, quiet, stoic, who only spoke via their drawings of the what they saw in their visions. She'd lost her parents in one of Zarkon's first attacks on Arus, when King Alfor himself fell, when the Seers all ran the deepest and furtherest away into the caverns of Arus they could get.

It didn't take long, a few of them foresaw it, the people turned against them. They blamed the Seers for not warning the King, for giving enough information about Zarkon's attacks for King Alfor to win against him. They blamed the Seers and they killed them, many Arusians took arms against those they used to revere.

She had been but a child, the older couple had taken her in, they had managed to hide who they were. They later met up with Padraic and Espen. They'd become a family, they hid who they were, but practiced their Seeing anyway, wrote down their prophecies, tried to place when and where they would take place. Near and Far Future. Padraic seemed to see further in the future than most of them. Her new father, Martin, he saw the hard battles, the ones that could be won or lost on the right or wrong decision. He saw the hard choices the members of Voltron Force would have to make. That the Princess would have to make. That the Commander of Voltron Force would have to make. The hard decisions the future King would have to make.

She saw the King and Queen.

Always them. Quiet moments, and the moments where everything would change. She saw them walking into a light and seeing a future. Of a bright and beautiful rebuilt Arus. Her hope since then had been bright, yet she knew all the darkness they'd fight through for it to happen.

They would fight for it, together, and never alone, they'd have the Voltron Force.

She wasn't good at reading her visions. She saw the pictures, disjointed as they were most of the time. She sometimes saw names, or knew a feeling that was involved. But she never understood enough of how to read the vision to write a prophecy down. They were trying to teach her, trying to help her... Isis, her new mother, told her constantly she was holding herself back.

The vision came to her unbidden, as she ducked behind the Brothel to avoid going near where the people of the underground where being too loud for a week night at the main whiskey house. The Brothel, besides her own tent was the safest house in the underground.

That and Old Man Esleban, he was the least crazy of the crazies, he took care of them all. His place was safe, if you could go with the crazy, didn't mind the noise and could stand the pain. The pain could strike you down when you least expected it.

She was thinking these things, as she ducked behind the Brothel, deciding if she wanted to head home, go to see Esleban, she hadn't seen if he needed anything lately; when the vision hit her.

Sometimes they came unbidden, a hard stabbing like a sudden sinus headache could happen when weather pressure changed. She grabbed a rocky wall, the pictures hitting her, disjointed. The King with the Brash Red-Headed Woman, The Queen seeing them, Red and Blue Lion stark against pale skin. The three of them, here, in Esleban's home, kindness and honesty; ruling as one without knowledge.

The images stayed as the knowledge faded from her. She stood, she swallowed, they were coming here. To the Underground. The King and Queen. They would speak to Esleban. The Brash Red-Headed Woman, Lara Wyeth, she knew her name. She knew her heart, she'd seen Lara here, at the Brothel, with Esleban and the others. Helping if she could, eyes fierce with anger when she couldn't.

A gunshot made her jump, she looked through a small narrow passage between the Brothel tent and the tent of someone claiming to be a fortune teller - charlatan - and saw people laughing and running from the Whiskey House.

The King and the Queen were coming here.

She hurried toward home, she had to tell her family this, they were coming here. Another gunshot made her hurry her steps.

~~.~~

Lance had made one stop before he, Allura and Lara had slipped out of the Castle. Allura had sent him a knowing look, when she saw the door he'd stopped at and he'd nodded. A few miles out of the Castle, he stopped their walk. "Lara how much further?"

"The entrance I use is just a few feet, that way," she said pointing with both her hand and her flashlight.

He dropped the bag, he'd picked up in the room. He pulled out a blaster and handed it to Allura, along with a knife. Then he pulled out another blaster and turned to Lara and handed it over. The look on her face, in the moonlight and from the flashlight he currently had around his neck was priceless. She reveled in shocking people, when you shocked her it was a thing of beauty, he glanced at Allura. "I should've brought a camera."

Lara was staring at his hand. "What is that for?"

"Protection."

"I'll be fine," she said.

Lance shook his head. "I don't care that you've been going to this place without any protection, Lara, for however long you've been walking in there. You're taking the plaster."

"Where am I supposed to put it, where is Allur..." Lara glanced over at Allura and found that both the knife and the blaster were no where to be seen. "What the hell?"

Allura laughed. She turned and lifted the back of the black jacket she'd borrowed from Lara, showing that the blaster was tucked in the back of the jeans. "It has a safety, it's easy to unlock. The knife is in my right boot."

"I..." Lara.

Lance put the blaster in her hands. "This is the unlock on the safety, point and shoot. I'll give you actual lessons, some other night, got it?"

Lara sighed. "Fine. Yes."

He took the gun then, turned her around and shoved it down the back of her pants and hid it with her leather jacket, it just covered it. "Perfect."

He then gave her the knife. "Your boot will be perfect."

Then he pulled two more knifes out, a smaller blaster he put on the inside of his own dark jacket, the regular blaster he tucked in behind his pants as well. He put the knifes in his own boots. "Let's go."

Truth was a part of him wanted to shake Lara for going to this place on her own for so long. Lance had a bad feeling about what the place was like, it wasn't safe, it wasn't safe for someone like Lara, who only thought she had everything figured out. He wasn't thrilled bringing Allura, but at least she knew how to protect herself, she was better equipped to deal with it, he was actually more worried about protecting Lara if she opened her mouth and said the wrong thing to the wrong person. Which, if his life kept up it's usual luck, he and Allura were bound to attract the wrong people and someone who shouldn't notice them would notice them. They would wonder who they were, they'd sense something about them, if they didn't out right recognize them. They both looked different enough, but the still looked like themselves. He was certain they could get in and out, ask a few questions of the people Lara knew, and be safe, but his gut told him to ready just in case. And that Lara was the one he had to protect the most.

Keith would kill him, later if anything happened, but glancing over at Allura, seeing her again in clothes that didn't hide how in shape she was, how graceful she moved, how easily she'd taken the weapons from him and checked them out. He wasn't really all that scared for her, she was more scared for someone who tried something - plus he'd have his eyes on her too. Lara was the civilian, not the warrior princess he'd watch bloom in front of him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Note:** Most of this chapter was written while I had insomnia due to a cold. The last bit of it was written while I was afraid to lie down with a migraine. So if my mistakes are more glaring then usual, I apologize. Also sorry for making you guys wait longer than usual! Rachel

Chapter Twenty-Four

The entrance was old, like the ones that in and out of the Castle tunnels that so the people had hid and cowered in before they'd arrived on Arus and found the way to bring back Voltron and save the planet. Also after making his way through branches, and stepping over stones, they had come out into a clearing that was covered fully by the high branches of the clustered trees near the mountain face. It was hidden from the sky, it was hidden from the road. Out of sight. But it was close enough for anyone in the main village and a few of the closer smaller outlying villages to walk to if they had any desire to look for what an underground city might have to offer.

Lara opened the door, pressing her hand, her red painted nails looking too bright against the gray and dirty rock in the light of Lance and Allura's flashlights. He shook his head, as it opened, then he stopped her from walking in first. "Allura, then you, then me," he said.

"Allura first?" Lara said, questioning him. Lance rolled his eyes and cocked his head at Allura. She stepped in front of Lara walked, Lance pushed Lara to go.

Walking in he turned off his flashlight, the pathway down was lit by torches, all along the way. He could already hear the noise, there was music, some sounded electronic, some sounded acoustic, then there was a series of blaster fire, then two old fashioned gun shots. Allura stopped walking, she looked back at him past Lara, her worry clear but her determination to keep going forward was evident. Lara turned to him too her eyes wide, her green eyes full of surprise and she looked a bit panicked.

"That's not normal," she said.

"Keep going," he said to Allura. "But keep your eyes open, ears wide, be careful."

Allura nodded.

Lance stepped in so he was walking next to Lara. "What's normal?"

"One blaster maybe, one of those loud pop gun sounds. Nothing like..." she jumped when it happened again, another series of blasts. "I don't understand?"

"Lance?" Allura said, warning him something was up.

Lance looked from Lara, to someone walking toward them, with a very distinctive walk, the walk of an Arusian trained soldier - one trained by Keith, as they all were. But he wasn't dressed like one, he didn't look like on, if it wasn't for the Garrison-ish variant in his step, and the subtle way he was keeping his eye on all his surroundings Lance was pretty sure he wouldn't have made him.

"You might, Red, if you remember how I swore you to vow on you unrelenting belief that a woman is equal to man in all things and should be allowed to act and be treated as such to never come down this way on a day that Doom attacks."

"Oh. Well, crap, that totally slipped my mind tonight."

"That battle slipped your mind?" the guy said, his voice accusatory.

"No, you imbecile. I forgot you said that, because...this one was so busy ordering me to bring them down here."

Lance waited for the guys eyes to land on him but even then he didn't do anything, he wanted him to make the first move. Allura was waiting, but watching like she did, watching, listening, taking things in, coming to her own conclusions, tucking away questions she had and she would remember to ask them all.

"Who the hell are you?" he said.

"You the hell are you?" Lance said.

"I asked first," the guy said.

Lance smirked at him. "I'm a soldier sent here on the Princess's orders. You are?" He wanted to hear what this soldier was going to say, he was sure there wasn't going to be an announcement that he was a soldier, in fact Lance was pretty positive about it.

"I live here. Never left really. I watch out for people here, though. What kind of orders from the Princess?"

"Watch out for them how? Really none of your business."

"This underground city been in this spot for centuries. I was born down here, when it wasn't much of a city - but my dad he told me, he told me how for generations my family watched over the underside of Arus, as best we could. It's just how it is. Never before saw anyone sent here by the Princess, or whoever sits up in the Throne room, at least not that I know about."

"Things change," Allura said behind him.

He turned and looked at her. "Guess so if the Castle is letting women be soliders now. Guess, they couldn't turn you down though, Princess Allura flying that lion."

"Exactly," Allura said.

"You must love her, Red," he said, turning toward Lara and giving her a flirty smile.

Lara rolled her eyes at him. "Not the time, Jude."

"Jude?" Lance said. "So that's your name. You're from some long line of people who watch the underside of Arus?"

"And crazy dishes like Red here, who like it slum it in the name of 'helping people.'" He put quotes about his last words.

"Because they need help, it's insanity to not try help people deal with the battle trauma, the addictions, and stuff. This place shouldn't be such a secret," Lara said.

"And centuries of that working just fine for the planet should be just thrown away. Why because you learned a few things because of Arus joining the Alliance about what other places do? They ain't Arus, Red."

"Lara shut it," Lance said before Lara could start yelling back.

"But..."

"Just shut it."

"You agree..."

"Damn straight, but don't, she and I don't have the time."

Lara huffed out a long puff of hair.

"You still haven't told me who she and you are," Jude said.

"Told you, soldiers that the Princess personally sent here to check this place out for her. It came to her attention, via Lara, and she wanted to know about it. We're to be here eyes and ears."

"I don't trust people without names."

"I'm," Lance thought for all two seconds, then did the only thing he could think of because they were technically their names. "L.T. and this is Laurie."

Allura almost laughed, but pressed her lips together to stop herself, she looked a bit nervous but after a few seconds she seemed to calm down. She nodded slightly to him that was a good cover.

"Lara, you are going to go home," Lance said.

"What?"

"Like, Jude said, obviously tonight is a bad night for you to be here. Turn around and go home. Keep the knife and blaster though, I'll teach you how to use them soon."

"What if I don't want to know how?"

Lance eyed her. "Then I'd think you stupid, a strong opinionated stubborn idiot woman like you wants to come down here should know how to protect herself."

She huffed again. "Uh, what about... Laurie?"

"She'll be fine," Lance said, looking right at Lara, with a what the hell look.

Lara shook her head. "Excuse us a moment," she said to Allura and Jude, grabbed Lance's arm and walked them back up the pathway they were on.

"What is the problem, now Lara?"

"I realize, I talk a huge game, and I am all for equal rights for all, and being treated fairly and with the same rules. And if Allura were any other woman with the training you and the rest of your team have given her I wouldn't be blinking an eye."

"But?"

"She's the Princess."

"Very aware of that, Lara."

"Nothing can happen to her, and if you two imbeciles are going to make me go home..."

"Lara, Allura will be fine. She can protect herself, and I'm here. Also I have no plans for us to go near where the blasting is."

"You don't even know where it is?"

"I can guess," Lance said. "Get going, I'll call you. Oh and by the way, really you're dating him?" He cocked his head over toward Jude.

Lara smirked. "I date you don't I?"

"Whatever," Lance shook his head.

Lance waited until he couldn't see Lara, then he turned back around walked back to Allura and Jude. Jude was trying and failing to impress Allura with his charm, she looked a lot like she did when Nanny and Coran introduced her to some Prince on a communications feed and she had to perform small talk with them for twenty minutes. Bored out of her mind.

"Jude, cut the bullshit, you don't just watch this place out of tradition you've been trained, by the guy who trained me, the commander of the Voltron Force. You're as much an Arusian soldier as I am," Lance said, because he really hated crap, it was better if he and Allura weren't recognized down here, but if this guy did recognize him, that he could deal with. It was more the general population he didn't want knowing they were around.

"I, what... How the, How the hell do you know that?"

Good, he hadn't placed him or Allura.

"You walk like a soldier, now what's the full story?" Lance asked, glancing at Allura over Jude's shoulder. She looked pale, worried, she didn't like the history lesson she already had heard, knowing Jude was a soldier was making it worse for her. He gave a swift look of apology but she shook her head back, telling him not too.

"It's kind of long? Where were two planning on going?" Jude said.

"Brothel and and a guy named Esleben who Lara says is functioning with his PTSD and is trying to help others suffering with similar depressions and mental issues?"

"Crazy old Esleben, yeah he tries. He's a good guy. Nuts but good. Then most people down here are. Me included."

"How many are you?"

"There were eight of us? We all from father's who did this before us, we all told Coran when we showed up for training, it's what Viv said to do, she runs the Brothel. Two of them died of overdoes, one of them is half way there now. Two of them, they just stopped caring and they just drink all day. So it's just me, Leo, and Wyn."

"Haven't you asked Coran for help?" Allura said.

Jude laughed. "Not how it works. Once we were trained, there is no contact with the Castle; hell even if I need to drop off a body, and possibly a prisoner I don't contact the Castle, I contact a guard. They meet me halfway."

"Which guard."

"Melvin."

Lance nodded. Melvin was the oldest guard on the staff, he was close to Coran's age, but he was fit and fast. He did his job and did it well, and he had more duties than even Keith knew about.

"Follow me, I'll take you to Viv. Good a place as any to start. Ask questions, or do you want me to tell you what it is I do?"

"Tell me, I'll ask questions as they come to me," Lance said, giving Allura a nod to do the same.

She nodded back, her chin out and her face solemn.

"When Doom attacked I was baby, much like most of our generation, why we are so determined I think. My father, he told me that if Arus ever was ever strong enough to fight, I was to tell the Castle advisor I was one of the Underside Guards. It's passed down from generation to generation. How the first generation was ever chosen, or what I don't know. My father didn't tell me too much, he kept promising to tell me more. He just told me that we guarded the underside of Arus, the darker side, the misunderstood, sometimes the dangerous, and sometimes the most fragile. That it'd be hard; he was supposed to give me more infromation when I turned sixteen. He died before then. Thing is, none of us, that I mentioned to you, none of us got the full story, all the information. All our father's died before we turned sixteen. I asked the Castle advisor about it, Coran. He shook his head and said, it was knowledge only they would know, and do our best."

"And his orders?"

"The main point is to keep what is supposed to be here, here. Don't let the drugs out of here. Don't let the drunks go home until they are somewhat sober. Keep it out of sight from above, because that is the way the planet words. Arus is bright on the surface, dirty under the surface. If there is a murder, contact Melvin, meet him with the body. If you have the killer, bring them to, if not try to find them but if you can't can't. Sometimes you never know. All other crimes, we deal with here how we see fit. So, sometimes I'm the reason I'm bring a body."

"You're executing people, for what crimes?" Allura asked, her disgust evident.

"Rape, usually," Jude said, looking right at her.

She went pale.

"I make sure I get the right person."

Lance sighed. "And you have only three men, because the others?"

"It's not an easy life down here, we rarely get out, and going out to relax, well it has a different meaning around here. Fight clubs, the brothel, gambling. Lots of vices and addictions to be found. I think I'm just lucky, I don't seem to have an addictive personality," Jude said as he stopped in front of a large tent, that seemed to be connected to a maze of tents of around it. "This here is Viv's Brothel, let's go in."

Jude went in first, Lance paused Allura with a hand on her shoulder wanting to see if she was okay. She gave him a long serious look but said nothing, she was okay he thought, but she wasn't happy. She was thinking and she feeling. She was angry.

Lance looked around the room they entered. It was surprisingly plush, tapestries hung against the tent walls giving a sense of design and space, a blush colored carpet had been rolled down on the floor. There was couches and chairs.

An old man was standing in the center of the room. Jude was looking at him with a bit of shock, so Lance moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Jude. "What's going on?"

"Tarus, this is L.T. he's a soldier for the Castle, he's here on orders from the Princess. To talk to Viv. Why are you here? Never seen you in the brothel before?"

The old man, Tarus didn't move but Lance felt gray eyes move onto him. Old eyes, eyes that could see more than most, Lance felt it in his bones. He feared recognition but he kept his gaze on the old man. Tarus was a few inches taller than him, tall for an Arusian. He had long thick dark gray hair, that still had some brown streaked through it. His face was weathered but not overly old, yet Lance had the impression this man was older than most, older than you would think, older than most would guess. He wondered immediately why he lived here and if he wasn't usually in the brothel why was he here now, on this night when Lance and Allura were.

"The young one is at Esleben's. She's waiting for them. They should go there now," Tarus said, his voice sounding young for a man who gave off such an aura of ancient.

"Uh, Tarus, is it? We would like to talk to Viv," Lance said.

Tarus shook his head. "No. The young one is waiting, Esleben's. Jude do not go inside with them. Wait without, out of earshot."

Lance felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck and he turned to look at Jude. Jude was still looking at the older man in the half state of shock. "Uh, yeah, okay whatever you say, Tarus," he said after another beat. "Come on."

He walked back out of the brothel tent. Lance looked at Allura, she was still staring at Tarus, her expression one of awe not of surprise, or confusion. It was awe and it was acceptance. He saw the trust in her eyes and he looked back at the man and saw him nodding at Allura.

"Allura?"

"Yes," she said and turned following Jude outside.

Lance followed.

~~.~~

Keith pressed the chime at Lance's door, holding the clipboard of things he'd jotted down to go over with everyone before the hand to hand and obstacle courses. He knew Lance had company, but it was getting late and he needed a second opinion and that was Lance's job. He hit again, there was no way they were sleeping, Keith thought, she'd come over to late for that. He sighed, he wasn't going to be ignored. He typed in his override code, braced himself for the possibility of seeing way too much of Lance and Lara naked and joined, and stepped inside.

To an empty room.

"What the?" Keith muttered. He opened the bathroom door, slowly but when he heard no noises finished rather quickly and found what he expected. "Nothing."

He looked around the room, there were clothes all over the place. Women's clothes, more than one would expect, he picked up a few of them. All of the dark, until a flash of color caught his eye on Lance's bureau underneath something else dark. He picked up the dark female blouse, and saw a pink folded pantsuit.

One of Allura's pink folded pantsuits? Keith didn't want to know. He backed out of the room, feeling the urge to both harm Lance and to take a shower. But he had to find him, maybe they'd gone to the kitchen. He walked down the hall, but the kitchen was empty. He then checked the recreation room and found it empty. He sighed and walked into the control room, sat down and used the camera's to check the gardens, but all he found was darkness, shadows and guards.

He needed to find Lance, Lance wouldn't leave the Castle this late at night, he knew better. They had to be near by in case of attack, so he wouldn't be walking Lara home, he'd ask a guard too if he thought she needed one. Knowing Lara, Keith thought that meant that she walked home alone of course.

He pulled up security footage of the hallway, around the time he left Lance's room earlier. Keith watched himself leave the room, he rolled it forward fifteen minutes later, longer than Keith expected it to take Lance, Lance walked out of his room. Keith rolled it forward, he came back with Lara, they were carrying the clothes Keith had seen strewn across Lance's room.

"Weird?" Keith muttered.

He rolled the footage forward, going at a faster speed, thinking it'd be at least an hour before they left but twenty minutes later movement caught his eye. Keith rewound a bit and hit play.

Lance walked out, Lara walked out and a blonde walked out.

"What the..." Keith fiddled with the dials, he paused the feed on the blonde. She was the right height, the right size, but she couldn't be. She wouldn't be, Keith told himself. He zoomed it and he stood up, back rigid, in complete shock.

Too much make up, wearing civilian clothes Nanny would burn if she ever saw them near the princess, was indeed Allura. She barely looked like herself, if Keith didn't know her so well he wouldn't have thought it her from the picture on the computer feed from unfocused security camera.

He sat back down, he fiddled with the dials, put things up on the main camera and followed the three of them. Noted everything he saw, they were all in black, they stopped at the weapons room. A look inside told him Lance took five knifes, three blasters in a small sack. Then the three of them left the Castle by the kitchen and went down the path.

Keith swore under his breath and looked at the time. "One hour, Lance. One, fucking, hour."

~~.~~

Seer.

It was reverberating in Allura's head, that one word. The old man had been a seer. She felt it and whoever they were meeting - The Young One, at Esleben's was one too, she knew it. It tingled from somewhere inside of her, in her bones, made the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end.

Her heart hammered more from the thought of Seer's still existing than the gun shots and blasters going off had panicked her and made her nervous. When Jude had explained why it was happening it made sense to her, then it had only seemed sad to her, made her angrier at the war, angrier at Doom. Angry at her planet's history of hiding so much under the ground, and instead of facing it as part of life, and trying to help some people through things that weren't their part, that were mental illness.

Crime was inevitable, there had to be a better way to deal with it, than this eyes closed, we can't see or hear it so it doesn't exist method Arus had apparently been implementing for centuries. It was more of the same, she thought, so much about Arus life was century old traditions, they'd lasted too long, Allura thought. It was time for something new, for a change.

She was going to have a lot of words with Coran. Words Coran wouldn't like, but it was going to happen. As soon she figured out a game plan, Lance and Keith would help her figure it out. They all would, but she would have to be the one to fight. She prayed she could find the strength.

"Here we are," Jude said, he scratched his nose. "So, uh, Tarus said I should stay out here. I'm going to go snooze agains the wall there." He pointed to a jut where the cavern met the mountain they were under.

Lance nodded to him, he glanced at Allura. Allura gave Lance a small smile, Jude shook his head at them both and walked away from them. As soon as he was out of earshot, Allura stepped closer to Lance. "Tarus, whoever this is? They are Seers."

Lance nodded. "What I was thinking, you ready for this?"

Allura shook and nodded her head. "No, yes, I wasn't ready for any of this but I have to be."

Lance gave her a long look, Allura held his gaze, she knew this look it was the one when he was making sure she was okay. He could read her like no one else, she hoped he saw that she was okay, shaky but strong. "Okay," he said, "Let's go in."

He walked inside first, Allura followed him in. This tent wasn't as spacious or neat as the brothel, it had caverns dirt as it's floor, it had tent walls, it was big tent with sheets of some used to section of rooms and create a sense of a floor plan.

A young woman stood in the main room, the one they'd walked into. There was an open fire, with a pot over it. She was stirring whatever was in it with a long wooden spoon. A man with a big red mustache was in a chair by it, with a huge bottle of something in his hand drinking from it.

"She tells me you are the king and queen, you the king and queen."

"They aren't yet."

"They ain't or they are?" he asked again.

"They are meant to be, they will be."

"What will be, is, in my dang book, works for me. King and Queen. Hello, King and Queen. I be Esleben, this here is my home for those who don't quite see the world right. Young One here, she is making me and mine some Rabbit soup."

"It is just broth, Esleben."

"But if you call Rabbit, they will eat it."

"It won't have Rabbit in it."

"They won't notice, except the smarties and the smarties won't say a thing so the dumbies will eat. It works just fine my ruses, Young One."

Allura glanced at Lance, Lance shrugged. "Do you have a name?" She asked the young woman, trying to see her face better for she had a hood over her head. All Allura could tell was voice was kind, her eyes were big and her was dark as the ends stuck out of the hood.

"I do. Yet they all call me Young One, as they did when I was toddler and they found me in the caves."

"She was squalling something mad, made my pal Cornelius madder than he already was she did. He's noise sensitive that one, can't stand noise. Had to find the noise and shut it before he hurt himself I did. Didn't think it'd be a baby, thought it might be something to eat."

"I'm quite glad you didn't eat me."

"Saw her wrapped in that there cloak of hers, saw she was a baby of Seers and took her to Tarus and Ara. Only safe place for her, people wanted them all dead. Blamed them for Alfor dying, damn stupid normals."

"She doesn't need a history lesson just now Esleben."

"Then what does she need."

Allura was appalled, this was why she hadn't seen any Seers, nor heard of them since the war. This was why such a vital part of her people's faith was not completely ignored and never brought up again. The people blamed the Seers for the war, for her father's death. She reached out and grabbed Lance's hand.

"We got the sense from Tarus you wanted to tell us something?" Lance said.

"Yes. Two things, really. This battle, Allura. About here. It's not one to fight yet. Don't worry about us under here, we will keep. Don't argue. You will change things, it will change, you will help. You'll see me again, you'll come here again. But now isn't the time for here. We aren't to be a priority yet. There are other pressing priorities."

"Such as," Allura asked in unison with Lance.

The Young One smiled as she stirred the pot. "The Garrison, Space Marshal Graham, he thinks he's doing you a favor but his parting gift will be a burden. A Prophecy you saw, Allura, will come to pass soon Allura and your choices... Well, they are your choices. Finally and this one is the most pressing. Keith knows the two of you aren't in the Castle and you only twenty minutes to get back before he, Pidge and Hunk go out to track you."

Allura's jaw dropped open at the last one. "Keith?"

"Please tell me that's a Seer joke?" Lance muttered.

She looked straight up for the first time then, Allura saw her eyes were a clear light blue then, her face beautiful and she had to be a few years older than her, yet she was young. She shook her head at Lance. "It's true. It's a prophecy I saw this morning, he's quite angry."

"Son of a bitch!" Lance yelled, his hand tightened around Allura's wrist and started out of the tent.

Allura ran with him, her mind trying to process everything she'd seen and heard during the night. While at the same time trying to come up with the right things to say to Keith to diffuse the situation and make sure Lance didn't get punched in the face.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Let's go in through the garden," Lance said, veering off the path just before the Castle came into sight. "Get you straight to your room where you can wash off that make up and change."

Allura followed him, both of them running at a steady pace, his words telling Allura that like herself he was definitely thinking about ways of placating Keith, trying to manage the situation and explain everything away with making things worse. Allura didn't want Lance to take the blame for this, she'd asked him to bring her out there. The other problem was she didn't want Lance telling Keith where they'd been either, Keith would tell Coran, and she didn't want Coran knowing about her knowledge of things until she a better grasp of what was going underneath the surface of her planet. Centuries of hiding the problems of society? It made her ill to think about it, to hide people who were different, it was disgusting to her, it felt a step close to being like Zarkon who placed people in cells because he felt their species were below Drule.

Lance scaled the stone wall that led to the garden behind the Castle, and stayed on the top as she made her way, helping her over the edge to the top, then they both scaled their way down, jumping last two feet onto the ground. They were going to reach the steps to get inside soon and Allura needed to make sure Lance was on the same page as her. "Lance, stop?" she asked, stopping at the foot of the stairs. He was two steps up but he stopped and turned around.

"I don't want Keith to know where we went, he'll tell Coran, you know he'll tell Coran."

"I know, I wasn't going to tell him unless you did."

Allura smiled, she should have known, he knew her, he knew how she thought and he knew Keith as well as she did. She nodded and they both started running again. They entered the Castle, Lance slammed his back against a wall, she slammed her back against it next to him, she suppressed a giggle.

He glared at her.

"Sorry, it's just this is my own castle, not Doom."

Lance grinned but he held up a finger to shush her, as two guards walked by. "What's got Kogane so worked up, why are they getting ready to ride out on horses this late at night?"

"Night, it's morning, don't know they are being hush-hush and the orders state not to wake Coran."

"Whatever it is it doesn't want to face Kogane never seen him looking so pissed."

"I know, the furrow between his eyebrows, I didn't know it could get worse."

Lance and Allura exchanged glances, Allura gritted her teeth and promised to herself that she wasn't letting Lance take the brunt of this. Lance took a quick glance and saw the two guards turn a corner, then he and Allura started down the opposite hall toward Allura's bedroom.

Outside her door, Lance waited as she put in her code. "What are you going to do?"

"Find him," Lance said.

Allura held her finger over the last button she needed to push. "Are you crazy, no, you can't see him without me."

"Allura, no. Look just let me go to him, come up with something and take the brunt of it."

"No! I asked to come with you, this was about Arus, I'm not letting you take the blame, no matter what story you come up with, I'm not letting you take the blame. No."

"Allura, it's easier and less messy that way."

"And not true. No, I have my own free will and I'm tired of people protecting, and you've promised..."

Lance sighed. "Then what should I do then? Wait for you?"

They heard footsteps, Allura hit the last button, her door slide open, she grabbed Lance's arm and dragged him into her bedroom with her. "Yes," she said as her door slid shut afterwards. "I'll just wash my face off, then we'll find him together."

"Don't you want to change?"

"Sooner the better, don't you think?" Allura said as she walked to her bathroom.

"I guess," Lance said walking toward her bathroom behind her.

She opened the door and walked in, flicking on the light.

Lance looked in and whistled. "Seriously, that's bigger than my room."

"I know," Allura said looking ashamed. "It's ridiculously ornate."

~~.~~

"Chief!" Pidge exclaimed, just as Keith was about to tell them to head out to the stables and get on the horses he'd had the stable hands ready for them to take out and search for Lance and Allura.

"What?" Keith snapped, he'd given Lance an hour to get back with Allura, it'd been an hour and three minutes.

"Allura's bedroom code was just entered," Pidge said, pointing to a line on one of the many smaller screens on the control room console. "It was the entry code, less than one minute ago."

"Bring up the video outside her room, let's make sure it's not a maid, or something, or worse Nanny."

Hunk laughed. "If it was Nanny and Allura's not in there, we'd be hearing the screaming already."

Pidge chuckled.

"Pidge the video," Keith ordered again.

He ignored the loaded glance Pidge and Hunk shared as Pidge, finally, silently obeyed his order. They watched as Lance and Allura ran up to the doorway of Allura's room, as Allura punched in all but the last number of her her code. Then it appeared the two of them were having some sort of argument, then Allura punched in the last number, grabbed Lance and pulled him into her bedroom with her.

Keith stared at the feed and then started to count to ten. When he reached ten, he started to counting to ten again. "Stay here," he snapped at Hunk and Pidge.

"Chief," Hunk said. "It might be best we come with?"

"No," Keith said, looking Hunk in the eye. "No, it won't. Stand down everyone else however, have the the horses put back in their stalls."

"Okay," Hunk said, looking at Pidge.

Keith ignored their worried glances and stalked out of the control room toward Allura's bedroom. He was going to calmly ask them where they had been, he'd calmly listen to where they had gone, then he would calmly point out how stupid they'd been. Then he'd hit Lance.

Hard.

~~.~~

Allura pulled the knife out of her boot as she waited in her bedroom for Lance to use her bathroom, she felt better without so much make up on. She preferred the less is more approach, but looking less like herself and more like someone else had been fun. No one had even thought she was the princess, no one had looked at her like she was a princess. They'd all looked at her like she was a woman, a female, a girl. She was only used to that coming from Lance. It'd been novel, it'd been nice.

She moved the blade back and forth by twisted her wrist, she thought about the damage she knew how to inflict with it and was thankful she never had to put that knowledge into action. Allura placed the knife down on her bureau just as Lance came out of the bathroom, his eyes went to the knife. He walked over to her, stood behind her, lifted up the black top and pulled out the blaster, then reached over and put it down on her bureau.

"You have any here in your room?" he asked.

"No."

"Keep them here then," he said. "Just in case, isn't like Lotor has never gotten inside before."

Allura shuddered at the memory and she nodded. "Okay. Where should I keep them?"

"Somewhere Nanny and the maids won't find them."

Allura nodded. "I know where then, where I keep my diary," she said, picking them back up and walking toward her bed, where she moved the nightstand next to her bed away from the wall, and bent down. She felt Lance looming above her. "This is top secret," she said as she peeled back a section of the carpet that ran wall to wall in her room, and then pulled up a small rectangle of wood. She dropped the blaster and knife in, next a book and what she knew Lance would recognized as a prophecy scroll.

"What's with the scroll, Allura?"

"It's not a real one," Allura said. "Its...there is just this one prophecy I read that I can't get out of my head, I got some scroll paper from the archives in the castle, been trying to redo as much as I can by memory, hoping to get it out."

"It helping?"

"No," Allura admitted, standing back up and moving her nightstand into place. "But..."

Lance nodded. gave this look that said he got it and he took her hand in his, his thumb going into a little circle on the back of her hand for a minute to tell her he did understand. Then he changed the subject. "Ready?"

Allura took a deep breath. "Ready."

Holding hands they started to walk toward her bedroom door as it slid open and Keith walked inside, he stepped right up to him, standing straight, arms crossed against his chest, his dark eyes storm clouds, and he took them both in. A part of Allura said, let go of Lance's hand, Lance had the same voice because she felt him letting go of hers, but Allura didn't want to listen to hers. She gripped tighter, stopping Lance from letting go of hers.

Allura straightened her shoulders, she held her head high and she looked right at Keith. "Hi, we heard guards talking that you were all up in arms about something. It wasn't us being out of the Castle was it?" she asked with the all the innocence she could muster.

The silence that followed was awkward, very awkward. Allura held Keith's gaze, she was sure she'd never seen it so angry. At least not at her and she wasn't even sure if it was at her yet, or if he was going to try to put all the blame onto Lance. She wasn't going to let him, at least she was going to try not to let him. Allura held his gaze, she made herself wait Keith out. She'd put the question out there, she had to act like she was surprised by his knowledge she was out of the castle. She couldn't tell him a Seer told him he was pissed off at her and Lance.

The voice in her head that kept telling her to let go of Lance's hand was louder now, it was getting louder but she couldn't do it. A large part of her wanted too, understood even that it would be in her best interest too. That it would be kinder to Keith too and would make the whole situation less awkward and intense if she would just let go of Lance.

But she couldn't because Lance was her anchor here, he was her back up and he was the one who knew the truth and would back up her lies. He was the one who would really protect her by not letting her get off scott free in when she herself was just as complicit as he was in doing something that was secretive and wrong in a way.

She was keeping secrets from Keith, it hurt her, but she had no choice because he'd go against her wishes thinking she didn't know better - she had to make Keith understand she did know her own mind and what was best for her planet before she could trust him with her own plans. Because she could trust Keith to stand up with her against Coran.

Lance was all she had right now. She needed his strength, and right now her hand felt glued to his as she tried to siphoning it off of him. Keith's eyes had fallen to their hands and she felt guilty, she felt bad but it didn't mean anything near what he thought it did.

"Where exactly where you? Where's Lara? Drop her home before you headed back here?" Keith asked, finally, Allura thought.

"Lara, yeah, we dropped her home first," Lance said.

"Where did you three go? So late at night, before we have an early morning wake up call for obstacle courses and hand to hand evaluation by the Garrison?" Keith asked, pointedly.

"We went someplace important," Allura said, not wanting to lie, she just didn't want to tell him everything - not yet anyway.

"Important? Some place important, dressed, like-like Lara? I saw the video of you leaving Lance's room, Allura. You were painted up like some..."

"Keith finish that sentence and I'll clock you," Lance spat out.

Keith fixed Lance with a death glare Allura was sure she'd only seen him fix on Lotor and she felt cold inside.

"It is important, Keith!" she shouted a bit too loud, to try to break apart their glaring before it moved to something else and she squeezed Lance's fingers in hers a bit too tight to try to get her point across to him.

"She's right, Keith it was important."

"In the middle of night, with Lara?" Keith said again.

"Lara took us where we were going, she knew were it was, we didn't," Allura explained. "But beyond that, that is all I'm willing to say about it."

Keith stared at her, then at Lance. "If its so important why can't you tell me? I'm the commander, here."

"It's not about Voltron," Allura said.

Keith closed his eyes. "Then what the hell is it about?"

"Arus." Allura rolled her eyes. "My planet. It's about Arus, and it's important and I'm asking you to trust me."

"Trust you. You snuck out of the Castle tonight, without warning. With Lance and Lara, dressed like that, with too much make up on. It looked like the three of you went out to some late night rave or concert or something. You were out of the Castle, with no way of communicating with you in case there was an attack."

"Not true," Lance said, pulling a radio out of one of the pockets of his black cargo pants. "It's set on the emergency Castle radio wave, if there'd been an attack it would've started beeping. We would've been back A.S.A.P. I'm not an idiot, Keith."

"And what exactly is wrong with the way I'm dressed?" Allura snapped.

"What is wrong... Allura you are the Princess of Arus and that, that..."

"What, Keith? This outfit makes me look like a woman. Are Princess's not supposed to look like women?"

"Allura," Keith said, his voice going low and warning, his eyes flashing. "You snuck out. You two aren't even telling me where you went. It's something important about Arus. It sounds like a dumb lie. I know there was a rave and a concert tonight. Which one Lance, which one did you decide she needed to go too? For whatever warped reason in your damn head?"

Allura dropped Lance's hand then, because now she was pissed off. Now she was really pissed off. "Out. Keith, OUT OF MY ROOM, out, out, out, out, OUT!" she walked forward and started to bodily push him.

Keith was too shocked to fight her, he found himself at the door way before he could stop her from moving him, he grabbed her wrists. "Allura, stop it."

"No, you stop it. Do you really think that lowly of Lance? Or me, for that matter? That you think we would go out to some underground dance club rave - yes I know what they are! But, I've never been to one and I never will be. I certainly would never go to one the night before we have evaluations by the Garrisons. I told you where we went to tonight was for Arus, and it was important and if you don't trust me, or your second in command, I think it is you who really has a lot of thinking he should be doing. So get the HELL OUT OF MY BEDROOM!" She reached past him and hit a button and the doors slid open. Since Keith was staring at her gobsmacked, she managed to hit him one more time smack in the chest and send him stumbling back into the hallway.

Then she turned to Lance and burst out crying.

~~.~~

The doors slid closed. Keith with his face an expression somewhere between confused, pissed and downright confounded disappeared behind it and Lance braced himself for the inevitable end of Allura's righteous anger. It happened in less than a second, he was sure of it. She went from a woman who knew she was right, who wanted the man she wanted to simply trust her for a bit before she told everything to the unsure teenager in the time it took the doors to slide shut.

They slid shut fast, less than a second, Lance was sure, she was on the floor, in a heap, crying. The make up she hadn't managed to get off of her eyes, was streaking down her cheeks in a black mess and he sighed as he bent down to the floor. He grabbed her under her arms and lifted up. "Move with me," he said.

Her arms came up and wrapped around his neck and she moved to her feet with him easily and glommed onto him in a tight hug and sniffled into his shoulder mumbling something he couldn't make out with the crying and the fact her face was squished against him.

"What?" he said as he backed them up toward her bed.

"All he had to do was trust me. I thought he trusted me," she said, pulling back and looking up at Lance, her blue eyes full of the hurt she felt.

"He does," Lance said. "He's just pissed off and being stupid."

"He should trust you, too," Allura said.

"No one trusts me," Lance laughed, turning them around and pushing her onto the bed, then bending down to untie her boots.

"I do," Allura said looking down at him, all innocence and make up stained tears glistening on her face. Lance looked up at her and felt something break inside of him that he wasn't going to think about, or dwell on at all. He cleared his throat, even though it was clear, and looked down to concentrate on her boots.

"Why would he say that crap about a rave or a concert? I just, where would that idea even come from?"

"I have no idea," Lance said.

"I can't have him going to Coran, he'd think it'd be best and it just isn't and I need to understand and know more first. I mean, we're going to have to go back, but..."

"She said not now," Lance said, talking about the Seer. He'd seen Allura's face when she'd realized there were Seer's in that city, and she'd seen the pain, disgust and anger when she realized why they were hiding from the Arus population. The people had blamed them for Alfor's death and Arus's fall to Doom. He hated the cynical side of him that found a logic in that line of thinking.

"I have to think about that, I need to decide... We need to talk?"

"We will, later," Lance said pulling off her second boot. "You need to wash your face again," he said.

She wiped at one of her cheeks with her hand and looked at her fingers, she sighed. "Eye make up is a bitch," she muttered, standing up.

Lance laughed. "You've been hanging out with me and Lara too much."

Allura turned on the faucet in the bathroom but she looked at him and opened her mouth then closed it. He knew that motion, it was Allura's I want to say something about Lara motion.

"What?"

"She's dating that Jude guy, and you."

"And probably some one else," Lance said scratching his neck.

"Yet, you keep trying to get her to pick you. There has to be some other girl you know that would be, you know actually into the dating only you idea..."

Lance sighed. "Yeah but they aren't Lara."

Allura frowned and started to soap up her face.

Lance waited, glancing at the door a time or two, actually impressed Keith hadn't come back inside. He sat down on Allura's bed and wait for her come back out to finish out the conversations they were having. Make sure she was okay alone with all the fall out from their adventure. With what she learned, and with Keith's epic fail of a reaction as a boyfriend.

Allura came back out, sat down next to him and started to undo her braid. "Are you in love with her?"

No, Lance thought, but he could be he knew that, Lara was the type of girl he could fall in love with and she was the only other - no she was the only girl on Arus who fit that description. "I can be in love her, I just got to get her to agree to get that point with me, so it can happen."

Allura scrunched up her nose and continued to unbraid for awhile. "So sucking on her breasts and having sex, is a bargaining tool?" she asked him a sidelong glance with a smirk.

Lance rolled her eyes. "No that was Lara succeeding in distracting me from talking about us being more serious. Damn woman, using her breasts to distract me..."

Allura stilled and turned more fully toward him eyes wide. "She used sex to distract you from what she didn't want to talk about!"

Lance laughed and nodded. "Tried and true way women have been getting there way with men for centuries, on probably every planet where their are two sexes. Sometimes, sometimes, a man can do it to a woman - but you woman you have some odd strength of character that allows you to say no more often."

"Hmm," Allura said, her face going pensive as she went back to her hair.

Lance watched her face for a few minutes, knowing she processing that nugget of information and storing it. It would probably be used against Keith tomorrow at the soonest, Lance had to swallow the belly laugh that wanted to come out of him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm done crying," she said, standing up and walking over to her bureau and then pulling her hair out of her pony tail, picking up her brush and bending over to brush her hair out from the back first.

Lance sat on the bed and told himself he really wasn't starring at her ass, her amazing round perfectly formed ass. Then she whipped back to standing straight, brushed her hair into tameness and turned around, and looked gorgeous. She grinned at him. "I'm mad, I'm hurt but no more crying, I'm too mad."

"You know you should be kind of easy on him, you aren't the normal girlfriend," Lance said.

"He isn't the normal boyfriend, but he should still trust me, trust you, trust us. We're both supposed to be his best friends."

"And we both lied to him tonight, then didn't tell him the whole story," Lance said.

Allura sighed. "And you know why? And I hate it but for Arus I have to keep Coran from knowing what I know, and until I know Keith will accept that I can make my own decisions on my planet..."

"I know."

"When will he stop seeing me as a little girl?"

"Trust me he doesn't see you as a little girl."

Allura rolled her eyes. "Fine as someone who needs coddling and protection, who can't think alone or for herself?"

"Keep showing him how well you do it, he'll start siding with you more than Coran. You've been great with the Garrison this week. Just keep it up."

Allura smiled. "Okay."

Lance looked at the time and sighed. "Okay it's going on 3 in the morning. We have to be up and ready for hand to hand at 6. Get some sleep, set your alarm for 5 am the latest, if you think you can handle it 4:30 is better?"

Allura nodded, then kissed his cheek. "Love you," she said.

Lance shook his head, got up and paused at the door to her room. They exchanged a look. Allura glanced over her shoulder from the wardrobe she was at and said. "If he's out there, just close the doors and stay here tonight."

Lance laughed. "Oh, that would go over well."

Allura shrugged.

Lance opened the doors, the hallway was empty. "Empty! See you, soon." He walked out, knowing it was just a brief reprieve and headed toward his room. Keith was in the hall, sitting on the floor next to Lance's door, when he saw Lance he sprung up to his feet.

Lance met his gaze, storm clouds, Keith was still beyond pissed of at him. Possibly Allura, but Keith would blame Lance for that anyway, Lance was sure. He knew Allura had to take her lumps for it too but Lance still knew no matter what he was going to take the brunt of it.

"Where the hell did you take her?"

"I can't tell you," Lance said.

"Screw that, Lance, where?"

Lance shook his head. "She's asked me to keep it quiet until she's made more than a few decisions on things, found out more information. And a few other important factors fall into place, Keith," Lance explain, thinking all the while that one of those factors was Keith himself. "So, no I can't."

"You two really went 'somewhere important' in the middle of the night?"

"Was really the best time to go," Lance said and he started to enter his code in.

"Why the hell was she dressed like that?"

"I thought she looked great."

"She didn't look like Allura?"

"Well, yeah it was way more make up than she's been wearing but the outfit totally her."

"What?"

Lance walked into his room, Keith right on his heels glaring at the clothes strewn everywhere. Lance looked at it all too and sighed. "Damn, let two girls bring clothes into your room," he muttered. He started to pick up stuff to put it all in one pile.

"Again, what with the Lara fashion?"

"I felt it was best if no one recognized me or Allura."

"Oh, that's why you look like crap."

"Thanks," Lance said, dropping all of Lara's clothes on the bottom of his closet and leaving Allura's pantsuit and the other pair of pants Lara said she could keep on his bureau.

"Tell me where you went, it's my job to protect Allura."

"Why?" Lance said.

"What?"

Lance sat down on his bed and started to untie his boots. "Really, Keith. I want to know why it's you're job to protect her. You asking as the head of the Voltron Force, or as he boyfriend. Because you acted fine as a Commander tonight. You were shit as a boyfriend."

Keith opened and closed his mouth.

Lance pulled off a boot.

Keith paced his room. "You didn't take her to a concert at all did you. Or a rave?"

"No, and where the hell you got that crazy idea is nuts to me."

"Lara mentioned them, last time she was here, that they were tonight and she was mad she couldn't go. Thought maybe she talked you into one, and you decided to educated Allura... in your quest to make her less naive and you knew I wouldn't go for it."

"I hate those rave things, Lara knows that. I needed her to guide me to the place we did go, which is why she missed them. As for the concert, Lara will have a chance to see her brother's band another time," Lance explained.

"You aren't going to tell me."

"No, I was asked not too say anything. Lips are sealed."

"Why the hell didn't she ask me to take her to this place?"

"For one she heard about it from me."

"Oh, well that figures."

"Two, I couldn't keep her from going with me."

"Yeah, you could."

Lance thought about it and decided he disagreed. "No. I couldn't not if I wanted to keep calling her my friend. Really I have no desire to lose that relationship."

"Lance, Coran doesn't want her making decisions about Arus alone, he wants her to discuss everything thoroughly with him. Whatever this is should be brought to him."

"You are so predictable," Lance muttered to himself as he took off his second boot.

"What?"

"Keith, talk to your girlfriend. She needs you to listen to her, how she feels, what she wants when it comes to ruling her people, taking care of her Planet. She doesn't agree with everything Coran thinks and does, you know?"

"She's young and she doesn't always see the bigger picture."

Lance sighed. "I don't know I think on some subjects, she might see the bigger picture better than he does. Talk with her sometime on these things, not at her."

Keith frowned. "I stay in commander mode too often don't I?"

"Yeah," Lance laughed.

"Damn it. I just... I want to keep her safe."

"She's safe, she wants you to see who she is past all the protection and Princess stuff."

"I do. She's amazing."

"Well, show it now and again."

Keith nodded. "Uh, since your up, I have these things for - well today I wanted to go over with you?"

"This is how we got caught isn't it, you were going to interrupt me and Lara in this bed, to go over what you want the team to look out for, what you think our strengths and weaknesses are...blah blah blah."

"Yes. What is so wrong with wanting everyone to be prepared?"

Lance sighed. "I wasn't going to sleep anyway, no use in it, I would only get enough to make me cranky about waking up."

Keith nodded. "I'll get the folder, oh and by the way, you're on probation until further notice, no leaving the Castle after hours for a month."

"Great. Thanks. I appreciate that."

"Be thankful I didn't hit you," Keith added with one more glare. "By the way, what's with the handholding, I don't like the handholding, stop touching her so much, I was thinking of getting my sword and chopping your hand off but then you'd be no use to me as a pilot. And that's really your best use." Keith sounded half teasing but Lance caught the left over anger, the jealousy and an odd bit of insecurity.

Lance knew he should act contrite, apologize for the lies and not being able to be straightforward, since he had not actually done that yet but instead what came out of his mouth was. "She wouldn't let go of me, talk to her."

Keith glared at him again before walked out, the threat of his return looming.

"Good one, Lance," Lance told himself, eyes rolling.

Tomorrow with the evaluations, Allura mad at Keith, and Keith calmer but still angry, confused and not really understanding the situation at all was going to be something that would not be defined by the word fun.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

Allura felt like she was burning, all her muscles burned but she wasn't going to stop, not on her life, she'd been the first sent into the obstacle course Space Marshal Graham had fashioned for them. It was by the mountains, near the canyon, the part of Arus that was both rocky and then a span of desert for thousands of miles.

She'd been running, following the markers that been put in place, 'enemies' would rush out every now again, Garrison officers dressed as Drule soldiers, who she would either have to fight in hand to hand combat or blast with with a special blaster they'd handed her, aimed at a special target they'd all wore. She'd been finding it rather easy to take them all down, she'd been quite proud to hear more than one of them say 'no way did the Princess of Arus just kick my ass' in their own more color ways of course.

She thought of what Lance kept telling her, she was being taught by the best in hand to hand combat to kick the ass of Drule, she could kick ass, it was about time it was tested. Allura smiled a bit as she continued her run around a corner, she wanted to see the pride of Keith's face when he found out how well she had done in the ass-kicking department. She was still mad at him about the night before but she loved him and she wanted him to proud of her.

As she rounded the corner and her eye caught sight of the next flag she needed she run toward, she realized she was going to have to scale a mountain wall to get to it. Her eyes widened, but she ran up to the wall and took a moment to figure it out. She was in her uniform, it gave her everything she would need - Graham had promised that. She remembered that they had a tool that could be used as a handheld grappling hook into the rock, or even a side of a building. Pidge usually took them and made a ladder for everyone else to climb. Allura took out two of them, took a breath and told herself she could do this.

~~.~~

Lance had been grateful when Graham informed them that the hand to hand evaluations would be part of them obstacle course. Talk about one bird and two stones, it made things quicker and cleaner. He'd seen Keith's eyes widen though, his eyes darting to Allura and Lance rolled his eyes. How someone who was the expert in hand to hand, could train someone to be a black belt in it and still feel over protective and not have a clue of their skill was insane. Maybe it was because Keith never sparred with her, he left that up to Lance, next training session with Keith, maybe Lance should make their fearless leader spar with his girlfriend.

Graham was waiting a long time between sending them out, Lance figured he had his reasons, but he sent Allura in and then didn't sent Pidge out until fifteen minutes later. Another fifteen minutes and he sent out Hunk, leaving Lance and Keith to keep stretching out and waiting for their turn. Finally Lance heard Graham, yell his name.

Lance walked over to the starting line and Graham looked him in the eye. "Follow the flags, finish line it right over there," he pointed to the other line that had been set up that said finish, to they were going to be running in some sort of big half loop, that was for certain. "Use the blaster, or hand to hand combat against all enemies, look for civilians, and finish all obstacles. You can help any teammate you see in trouble," Graham finished off then he blew his whistle.

Lance ran off, wishing that they weren't so close to the desert because his throat always went dry too face down there, but he ignored it and ran into a few enemies rather quickly but he blasted one and easily took down two without really breaking his stride. He wondered if the Garrison was even training them anymore, but then thought maybe he and the others had always had an advantage with Keith around. It was like having a secret weapon, an expert was helping you out with your martial art moves making you better than the average guy in the classroom. Lance snickered, suddenly feeling like he'd cheated on all his Academy martial arts exams because his roommate had been Keith Kogane.

After another five minutes of running he found himself looking up a mountain wall, and grabbing the tools he needed from his tool belt, Hunk was still on the wall but Pidge and Allura were both out of sight. He started to climb up and paused as he got closer to Hunk, knowing that the poor guy was freaked as hell by heights.

"You okay?"

Hunk grunted something that sounded like. "I got this."

Lance stayed put. "You sure."

Hunk moved up another foot or sure. "Uh, huh, go on don't waste time on me," he muttered.

Lance nodded and continued to climb at his faster pace and then made the top, where there were four enemies waiting to attack. Luckily they all had their backs turned. So Lance hid behind a few rocks, waited for them to turn around to see if anyone was going to show up behind them and shot two of them on the target, then he handled the other two with hand to hand. They were bit harder than the first few enemies were, but not by much.

Then he was running again, up hill again, Lance groaned and wondered when they were going to start looping around back to where they had started.

~~.~~

Allura was tired, but she wasn't about to give up and she flipped another man onto his butt and kept running, which is when she made it to an edge of a cliff that led out to the river. She saw the flag and realized she had to dive into the water and swim to the shore where the flag was waving. She also the five enemies waiting for her down there, but they hadn't seen her yet. She sighed, but looking head she realized she was on the last leg of the obstacle course so why was she standing still. She heard footsteps behind her, so she turned ready to fight but all she saw was Pidge. Pidge looked at the men on the ground and frowned.

"I hope this doesn't mean I don't get a full score, because the are still out from the count from you," Pidge said.

Allura grinned.

Pidge looked over the cliff and groaned.

Allura nodded.

"Let's come up with a plan for those five, before we dive in," Pidge said.

Smiling Allura agreed with him.

~~.~~

Lance had flashes to his time on Lyra as he dove off the cliff into the river below him, then he popped up for air and took a good lung full and swam underwater toward the shore. The five men on the shore were patrolling, but he knew they hadn't been looking when he'd dove. Hopefully they'd missed him completely if he'd counted their movements right.

He swam to the rock he'd decided to climb out on, and carefully got out of the water and then hid behind it, watching the men. They all looked up to the cliff, and Lance looked to see Hunk at the cliff, looking out at them. Lance decided to wait even longer than he was planning to before to make his move. He could go back into the water undetected and get Hunk to his hiding place they could work together on the enemies. He saw Hunk back up from the cliff, when he saw that the men had seen him, knowing Hunk would try to get into the water without them knowing. The enemies were changing their strategy though having caught sight of Hunk, however.

Lance decided to help Hunk out, he found a rock and managed to throw it so it bounced off a tree, then a rock and looked liked someone had thrown it from the opposite direction of where he was. They all, Lance rolled his eyes, started to move toward the sound. Had Graham told them to act as dumb as Drules? Lance glanced back up the cliff, hoping Hunk had noticed and saw he had because he dived into the water...

And didn't come back up, Lance watched, he counted and waited, then when Hunk did come up he was thrashing around, coughing. Fuck, Lance thought diving back into the water, hurriedly swimming out to Hunk. He got to where Hunk was just as he fell back under the water and Lance dived back underneath the water and grabbed onto him and pulled him back out.

Luckily Hunk was spouting out water and coughing, as well as swearing up a storm in Japanese and English, muttering about getting a side cramp and a charlie horse and letting Keith and the team down. Lance told him shut up, as he struggled to get them both on shore and he wondered exactly what was going to happen with the enemies - because they might be Garrison officers but this was an evaluation and Hunk was fine.

"You can shoot right?" Lance asked as he pulled them on shore and felt the five men behind him. Hunk nodded and his jaw clenched as he steeled himself, rolled over onto his belly as Lance jumped out of his line of fire. Hunk started shooting, and Lance started fighting.

It was a bit messy at first, but Hunk shot three of them on target and Lance got two of them down. Lance then went over to the water logged Hunk and helped him onto his feet.

Hunk shook his head. "I didn't stretch out enough, Keith told me too," he muttered.

Lance laughed.

"It ain't funny, I'm letting you all down."

"We won the round didn't we," Lance said. "Come on, lets go on now," he said.

Hunk nodded and together he and Lance took off, though Lance ended up taking the lead rather quickly.

~~.~~

Allura made it across the finish line, two seconds after Pidge, and she couldn't have been more happy about it than anything in her life. She thought it was never end. All those soldiers, all the blasting and fighting and she wasn't sure if she was wet from sweat or the swim, or a horrible combination of both. She was also sure her muscles would never stop hurting, Pidge told her to stretch out, and she followed his lead.

They were handed bottles of water, by Graham himself, not long after they made it past the finish line and after stretching out, Pidge took off to take a shower but Allura found she wanted to wait for the rest of the team and she was a little afraid to stop moving. So she walked in tiny circles, sipping her water and waited, and not for very long. Lance came across the finish line not much later, looking tired and he grabbed the water from Graham with a very hearty thank you.

He grinned at her and said. "Kick much ass?"

She smiled back.

"Knew you would," he said as he started to stretch out himself, but he made sure he was facing the finish line, Allura noticed he looked a bit worried.

"What's wrong?"

"Hunk, had a bit of a hard time," Lance said.

Allura then turned her eyes on the finish line. "What happened?"

"He didn't do so well with the swimming, but it's okay we handled the five guys fine."

Allura laughed. "Uh, does that mean Keith is the only one who will have to handle them on his own?"

Lance laughed. "Yeah, but that won't be an issue for Keith."

Allura nodded. "True," she said, the she smiled a bit brighter because she saw both Hunk and Keith show up in the distance. "There they are."

"Good, Hunk looks like he got a second wind," Lance said.

"I can't wait to tell Keith how well I did," Allura said, beaming.

Lance glanced her at her. "I thought you'd be still mad at him?"

"Oh I am, but I still want to show off."

Lance grinned at her and leaned forward and kissed her on her cheek. "I bet you passed with flying colors. I'm going to go hit the showers, I just wanted to stay to make sure Hunk made it."

Allura nodded and watched him walked for a moment, before turning back to watch Hunk stumble over the finish line a few seconds before Keith did. Though given the staggered times they went into the course, Allura was sure that meant Keith did a better time than Hunk, as she'd seen the order and Hunk went in before Lance.

She walked up to Hunk though and hugged him, and he hugged her back as he took his water from Graham. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Hunk nodded. "I need to remember to listen to the Chief here when he tells me to stretch, that's all."

Keith frowned as he took his own water bottle. "What happened?"

"Uh, I almost drowned. Lance saved me though, I was making up time from the mountain climb, the height thing slowed me down but I pushed a bit too much and hadn't stretched enough and when I hit the water I cramped up. Good thing Lance hadn't gone ahead yet."

Keith put his hand on Hunk's shoulder and nodded. "We'll work on your stamina, I'm glad your okay."

Hunk nodded. "I'm going to the showers."

Keith nodded and watched him go a serious look on his face. "I've got to try to get him to go on a diet again. He always puts up a fight saying he needs his food. Nanny doesn't help, thinking we all need to be fattened up."

"I could try talking to her about how we need to eat healthier," Allura said.

Keith looked at her, Allura felt the weight of his dark eyes, he was studying her, looking at her to make sure she was okay. In one piece and not harmed in anyway. Allura did her best not to feel like he expected her to have done badly, he was naturally protective, he was naturally serious, she knew these things. She held her breath and counted to ten and waited for him to say something.

"You have a black eye," he said, his hand coming out to touch it. His fingers were gentle on the skin, just under the bruising and he frowned. "You need ice, why haven't you gotten ice yet?"

"I was enjoying the wound," she admitted and frankly she'd forgotten about it. Lance hadn't said a word, though she'd seen him eye it as he'd asked her about the ass she kicked. She kind of loved him for that. "Besides I hurt everyone else more," she said not hiding her own pride or excitement about the fact. "It was amazing, I really didn't have any issues with anyone in regard to the hand to hand. I do think I need to work on my target practice with the blaster, though."

Keith let his fingers fall to her cheekbone and then off her face completely and he looked her in the eye and he smiled. "You had fun, didn't you?" he asked sounding more than a little surprised.

Allura nodded. "Yeah, I did."

Keith laughed then he shook his head. "Then I can't wait to see how you did on the video that was recorded. You should go take a shower and then get ice on your eye, okay?"

Allura nodded.

"I have to talk to Graham after my shower, go over mine and everyone's run and then Graham will give his final evaluation of the team."

"I know it will good," she said, then she kissed Keith on the lips before turning around toward the Castle to take a shower herself. She felt better than she had before about them, she was sure once they talked things out about last night that everything would be okay between her and Keith. Maybe she could start to talk to him about not always going along with Coran's way of thinking for her own well-being. Keith had gone against Coran more than once when it came to Arus, for it's own sake, they all had and she'd been better off for it, even when she'd wrongfully disagreed. She'd learned from it. She hoped, maybe if she could get Keith to see they should be allowed to date how they see fit, that he could also back her up in how she is ready to have more control in how to rule her planet.

First though she had to do a lot of research on the Arus Underground, if it'd been around for as long as she'd been told last night, there had to be history on it. As soon as she had some free time, she was going down to the archives to look into it, and she was even thinking of visiting her father, to question him about it. She wanted his opinion, she was having a hard time believing her father would allow it to remain unspoken knowledge.

~~.~~

The results of the evaluations went well, Hunk was the only one Graham gave a bit of a stern talking to but he also admired Hunk's drive to fight through is fear of heights. He did inform Hunk he was ordered to go on a diet and work on his stamina with his commander. However his diet could start tomorrow for tonight there was a formal dinner planned to say goodbye to Space Marshal Graham as he was going to be returning to Earth.

As everyone left the room to start to go get ready for the dinner that Nanny was already in the middle of making, Keith called after Allura and Lance to stay behind. Everything had gone better than he thought it would earlier in the day, Allura had been in an amazing mood, she'd enjoyed the obstacle course and Keith had to admit that he was proud of her. He also had to admit that Lance was right when he said Allura could kick ass and he was being too protective. He'd taught her well, and he owed her that acknowledgement but he still had to deal with their behavior the prior night.

He was still angry about it and confused by Allura's trust of Lance in certain areas over him, he couldn't see it any other way, she trusted Lance in things she did not trust him in. He had to admit it hurt, but what really confused him was he didn't know when it had started and why it had happened. It seemed like one day he woke up and Lance and Allura had completely different relationship than they had before and it bothered him. It bothered him a lot, because before Allura only turned him and if he was honest, he missed being the only one she turned too for anything.

As soon as everyone else left the control room, Keith gave Lance a pointed look. Lance nodded and walked as far away as he could from Keith and Allura. Keith took Allura's hand and walked them even further away from Lance in the other direction until they hit the wall.

Allura sighed when they reached the wall. "If you want to be alone with me, you should just be able to just be alone with me."

Keith shook his head. "The rules are there for a reason Allura, your planet has their traditions and I'm honoring you by honoring them."

Allura shook her head. "What if I don't believe in those traditions?"

Keith shook his head. "Allura, I don't believe you really think that, I know you want what is best for Arus. Right now, in such a chaotic time, with Doom and attacks, they need their traditions more than anything. I know you believe stability is important for Arus?"

"I believe stability is important yes, but I'm not so sure about a lot of Arusian traditions anymore."

Keith sighed and glanced at Lance, who was leaning against the far wall, eyes closed, looking like he wasn't even in the room. Keith had a feeling he was listening to every word. "I think Lara is bad influence on you," he said.

"I'm nothing like her," Allura snapped.

Keith flinched, Allura sounded like she didn't like Lara in the moment, which took him by surprise. "Uh."

"I mean that Lara's views aren't why I feel the way I do. But maybe I have listened to some of the things she's had to say. Though, I don't at all agree with how she treats, Lance."

Keith sighed. Lance, that was where the animosity came from, of course. "Yeah, speaking of Lance. Last night, we need to discuss it."

Allura nodded.

Keith took a breathe. "I was wrong to think that either one of you would go out to anything frivolous before an evaluation. What I don't understand is why you won't tell what it as you were doing?"

"Because the minute I told you it was important to Arus, you asked why I haven't included Coran."

Keith shook his head. "Allura, anything that is important to Arus should be run by Coran, he's your advisor, he's your advisor for a reason. You're the Princess yes, but your young, and you won't fully have ruling power until your 21, he has to help you make your decisions."

"What if he's making calls I don't agree with?"

Keith sighed. "If this is about our dating rules?"

Allura growled at him. "There you go thinking I'm just talking about frivolous things - not that I think our relationship is frivolous but it's more than that, Keith, I'm talking about my people, my planet, and there are things..."

A beeping from the control room console made her stop, both Keith and her turned toward it and watched Lance walk over and answer it. "Castle of Lions, Arus."

"Hello, old friend. This is Sven."

Lance grinned as he sat down in the chair and put his feet up on the console. Keith cleared his throat, Lance ignored him. "Hey, Sven."

"Keith around?"

"He's right here," Lance announced, giving the two of them an apologetic look but what was he to do, it was Sven. Keith could read it on his face clear as day and he couldn't blame him, even if he wanted to. Keith crossed the room and he put Sven up onto the screen, so he could see Sven, Sven could see them.

"Hello, Sven," he said.

"Hello, Keith, oh Hello, Princess."

Allura smiled.

"What happened to your eye?"

Allura grinned. "It's the other guy you should worry about."

"We had evaluations from the Garrison today, Allura kicked ass," Lance said, proudly.

Keith kind of wanted to hit him but he pushed the thought away. "Sven, what's up?"

"Well, I have a big favor to ask, and I know it might be too much to ask, but I need to borrow Red Lion."


	27. Chapter 27

_Notes:_ Reminder note: My Keith like in the Devil's Due comics is a martial arts expert and did lose a fiancee to death, the death and the fiancee are going to be totally original stuff I make up. Also, hope that everyone who is reading is enjoying :-)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lance sat up straighter in the seat he'd slid into when he'd answered Sven's call, his mind spinning. Sven couldn't borrow Red, not without borrowing him too. There was no way, Red wouldn't fly for Sven, she just wouldn't.

"Borrow a lion?" Keith was saying. "Sven, I don't know, we just had a pretty bad attack from Doom the other day."

"It'd be a short trip, Lion wise, anyway, Lance could come with me. It's a small moon that Zarkon is using as a slave base, he's go some ring of fire around it to keep unwanted ships out and unauthorized ships from flying out. I figure, with Red Lion, we can through, turn off the defense from the inside and get the slaves off the planet with Zarkon's own ships like we did ourselves. It's our plan anyway, Romelle and I are already on our way to Arus, we can discuss it more in depth when we arrive."

Keith didn't look happy but he nodded. "I'll think about it, what is your ETA, we have a formal dinner tonight with Graham, before he leaves." Here Keith smiled. "Be good if you two could join us."

Lance felt Allura stepping closer behind him. "It'll be wonderful to see Romelle? How many slaves are there on this moon?"

"At least fifty, I'm not sure why he has them segregated there, what the reasons are. Another reason I want to get on the moon, inside the operation."

"It is strange they aren't on Doom, or their own planet. What about the planet of the moon?"

"It's a dead planet, Keith, no life, the Moon has artificial life on it, all built by Zarkon, I believe. I don't know why, it just came to Romelle and my attention, it's been used since the beginning of the war. Always the same amount of Slaves. They are moved on and off, taking other places. I really want to get on the moon, and into the computer systems. As well as free the slaves and simply destroy it."

Lance watched as Keith's face went from unhappy with the idea, to unhappy with the idea but beginning to see that he may well have to allow Sven the use of Red Lion. "I see, we'll talk more when you and Romelle land."

"Aye, aye, Chief," Sven said with a smile, then he signed off.

"Lance should go, get him and Romelle on the moon," Allura said.

"I agree," Lance said.

Keith nodded and shook his head. "I want to talk to Sven more about what he does and doesn't know about this moon and how Zarkon is using it. It's strange, but we do know that slaves have been moved off Doom before. We haven't been able to figure out where they are going. This moon could be a clue. A dead planet? I want to know where it is."

Lance nodded. "We should mention this to Graham," he added, leaning forward and looking for Sven and Romelle's ship and nodding. "They'll get here right before the good-bye dinner. It'll be no problem."

"I agree. Okay, we'll do that. Uh, Allura and I still need to talk?" Keith said, looking between the two to of them.

Lance shrugged. "Okay, I'll go back to my wall," he said, standing up and glancing at Allura and giving her a wink in support. The control room wasn't really the best place for a private conversation, the walls made things echo. Keith kept walking right into making Allura mad, Lance thought it was an impeccable talent. He did have hope though that Allura would get through to Keith what she was saying, what she meant and why it was so important to her. Keith was thick at times, sometimes he was too confident he knew what was right but he was a good guy and he saw reason well. There would come a point where Keith would get it and listen to her.

~~.~~

Allura let Keith lead her to the other side of the control room. Them on one side, Lance on the other, pretending he was he was just zoning out into space, leaning against a wall. Allura studied Lance for a minute, he looked casual, hands in his pockets, eyes closed the typical Lazy Lance look. He was eavesdropping, she knew it.

"Couldn't we go somewhere else?" she asked.

Keith sighed, he shook his head. "The Castle is bustling, full of Garrison soldiers, from the evaluations, Nanny has a million Castle maids cleaning the main dinning hall and she's cooking up a storm. Everything is too busy, this is really the most private place at the moment."

"We could go outside," Allura said.

"The wind's picked up Allura, there is a storm coming, do you really want to get caught in it?"

Allura checked the urge to roll her eyes, he always had a rational answer for everything. She didn't care about a storm, or wind, or rain. It was weather, it didn't matter to her if she got wet and had to change from one boring pink dress to another one. "Okay, fine, here it is," she said and she reached forward and took Keith's hands in hers. Looked at his fingers, felt his rough palms against her soft ones, the heat of them, the extreme difference in the coloring of their skin.

Closing her eyes, she squeezed his hands, their fingers laced together and enjoyed the sensation of warmth that flowed through her, from his palms to her heart. Opening her eyes, she looked up smiling and locked her gaze with his and prayed that she would find the right words.

"I'm not the same girl I was when you arrived on Arus, Keith. Then I listened to Coran on everything, I never questioned him, not once. But then Sven was hurt, and you guys went out there fighting without Blue Lion. And I felt this need, this rush of instinct that I was supposed to be out there with you, helping you, helping all four of you. Be a part of Voltron. Coran didn't want to let me. It was the first time I defied him. I know you agree I did the right thing."

Keith's grip shifted as he pulled her even closer to him, putting them into kissing distance and nodded and shook his head at the same time. "I knew it was the practical thing to do, the right thing to do but I have to be honest, Allura. I hate it, and maybe... Maybe it's fear from losing a woman I lost once before, and maybe I shouldn't put that fear onto you. You're capable and your strong, and we've trained you to be a great pilot and a great fighter. You're evaluation scores have proven all of my fears and overprotectiveness really wrong. But, I think the point you want me to focus on is you're an asset to the Force, and I know that, and Coran would rather you never fly again?"

"Yes," Allura said, her empathy up at the mention of the woman from his past, the one she knew he was planning to marry who he never talked about never mentioned. She almost wanted to change subjects now and ask more questions, since he'd brought it up, find out more about his fear of losing her because of having lost her to an accident in the past. Only she couldn't, she really couldn't, not here, not in the control room with Lance eavesdropping and not able to ignore them by talking to someone else - even if that someone else were Lara.

"Since joining the Force, since meeting all of you, the things I've seen, the things I've been through. I know more about the world... No," she stopped and shook her head. Allura needed to say this right. "No, I know more about the galaxy now, I understand more, there are bigger pictures, and there are more than one way to do things, there are always other choices. There is more than one way to do things, and I need the freedom to research, to learn, to figure out where I stand on things without Coran trying to corral me, or guilt me like he can. He's raised me, he can give me this look and I feel like I'm eight again and I must eat my peas because we shouldn't waste food. And even if I can hold my own against him, he might double team me with Nanny..."

Keith sighed. "So, you what? Don't want me siding with Coran, even when I do?"

Allura let out a breathe. "No. I want you to do what you think you is best. But I don't want you to assume you're going to side with Coran."

"You not telling me where you went with Lance and Lara, last night, why you were dressed the way you were, with the make up... Allura, you looked like a teenager sneaking out to have fun. I was wrong to think that, I get that but it's what you looked liked."

"I actually prefer to be dressed that way. Jeans and top, much more comfortable and I hate pink and I hate these dresses. I wore that much make up to hide who I was because it was safer that way. Lance was looking out for my safety by asking me to not look Princess Allura-like. Today, this is my usual make up job."

"You have on make up?"

Allura grinned. "I do, and Nanny hasn't even noticed, which is great because if she did, she'd try to spank me like I was a baby."

"Wait, is that why you're eye looks better?"

"Yeah, I used a bit more coverup to make it look less bruised, for Coran and Nanny's sake."

Keith stared at her face, she waited him out and then he nodded a bit and she saw in his eyes the moment he noticed the make up and not just her face. "How did you learn how do this so well?"

"The Internet is handy," Allura said.

Keith laughed but then he turned serious and sober again. "Lance took you somewhere to research something?"

"Yes, something about Arus, Lara tipped him off too, that he didn't know about, I didn't know about. I know you don't know about it either. But Coran, does. And I don't want him to know I know."

Keith sighed. "Fine, then I won't tell him."

Allura smiled. "Thank you, but..."

Keith looked hurt, Allura felt awful when she saw it, she hated herself a bit but she couldn't help it her instincts were screaming at her to keep what she and Lance had learned between them until further notice. It wasn't only about the underground, it was about the Seers.

"But what Allura," Keith finally asked, masking his hurt the best he could.

"I need to know more about things, research it more, figure exactly what the history is on what I learned about and a few other things... first. I need to decide exactly where I stand on the issues, and there is more than one vital issue at hand. I need to make up my mind on all these issues before I speak out about it to anyone, including you. I'm sorry, but I need to keep it to myself for now."

"And Lance," Keith said and the hurt was evident.

Allura sighed, and couldn't help a glance over toward Lance. "Well, he knows about it."

"Right. And when Lara tipped him off about whatever this secret is, he knew you would want to know about it."

"Of course. If it'd been you she told you would have known it too," Allura said.

Keith nodded but then he shook his head. "I wouldn't haven told you about it, I might not know what it is, Allura. But I know I wouldn't have shared one thing about it with you, or let you go there when your safety called for you going in disguise."

Allura frowned and her eyes narrowed. "Exactly, so why would I tell you anything now," she snapped, her anger rising again. They were right back where they started, she thought she'd gotten through to him. "I thought we agreed that I am not a little girl to be protected and that you over compensate."

Keith let go of her hands and he crossed his arms over his chest and he turned around. Allura stood where she was waiting for him to say or do something. Anything. Then the console started to beep again and Sven's voice came out through the speaker. "This is Sven, I'm about to land in front of the Castle. Romelle, is quite excited to see her cousin."

Allura stalked over to the console, beating Lance there and pushed the buttons that needed pushing. "I can't wait to see Romelle, either. I'll be right outside," she said brightly, letting her sincerity about seeing Sven and Romelle shine over her anger and exasperation with Keith.

Straightening up, she glanced to where Keith was still standing, arms crossed over his chest, watching her with his dark eyes and looking as exasperated as she felt. She closed her eyes and turned away from him quickly so she wouldn't cry in front of him and turned to Lance and grabbed his arm and leaned a bit into his space.

Lance's hand came out touched her lightly under her chin. "I thought you were getting through, too."

Allura laughed nervously, a bit bitterly. "He's just so stupidly protective. We need to talk about his past I think," she said, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself as she looked into Lance's eyes.

"Always so wise," Lance said.

"I don't want to do that with listeners, no offense."

"We'll trick him into being alone with you," Lance said.

"How?"

"Leave that up to me, okay? We'll do it tonight," he said. "Come on, let's go meet Sven and Romelle."

Allura nodded, feeling a bit better, knowing Lance was thinking of a way to give her time alone with Keith to really deal with one of the issues that was between them. That was part of the reason that Keith held on so tightly to protecting her from any perceived and real threat. Maybe if they discussed his past loss, they could move forward more with their relationship and he could trust that she had to do some things on her own.

Lance let his hand fall from her chin, she let her hand slid down from his forearm and grasp his hand, and she stepped ahead of him, pulling him with her. She thought about seeing Romelle and being able to talk to Romelle. Romelle was wise, Lance might say she was, but Romelle was much wiser than her, Allura thought. She was older, she'd been through worse horrors than anyone should ever have to go through and she'd done so with amazing strength. Romelle was independent, she and Sven rescued Zarkon's slaves together, as a partnership, working together. Allura was sure she'd have advice.

At the top of the stairs leading down to where Sven and Romelle had landed outsides, where it was indeed windy and rainy, Allura squeezed Lance's hand. "Talking with Romelle, I think that might help too," she whispered.

Lance nodded.

Allura let go of his hand and ran out into the rain.

~~.~~

Keith stepped up two seconds after Allura took off, holding three umbrellas. "She's going to get soaked," he lamented.

"She's excited to see Romelle," Lance said.

Keith cleared his throat. "I guess."

Lance glanced at his friend and what he saw was dark eyes glaring at him. "What did I do now?" he asked.

Keith let out a noise that was part snort part exasperated sigh. "Something, I suppose I just have to accept, since Allura was the one starting it all. I don't know. She's got this big secret with you now, while she makes her mind about whatever the hell it is you told her about. You know Lara tips you off about something on this planet, that's big enough you think that the Princess should know about it, Lance. You should have come to me first. Not her."

"Are you the Princess?" Lance laughed. "'Cause you know what Keith, no matter how long you grow your hair, you still look like a guy to me. And seriously, she's the Princess. And what Lara tipped me off too, it wasn't something that I felt you needed to know about as much as Allura needed to know about. It wasn't a Voltron Force issue, it's definitely a Planetary Issue."

"Coran knows about it."

"Apparently, which actually pisses me the fuck off," Lance muttered.

Keith stared at him. "What does that mean. Coran would never do anything to harm this planet."

Lance shook his head. "It's complicated Keith, I disagree with something, I think Allura does too. But she's got to make up her own mind about it, do some research and there are a million other worms to deal with too."

"And she wants to deal with all that alone?" Keith shook his head. "She shouldn't do that, she should talk to her Advisor, and he's more than that, he's her guardian, he's Coran. Also there is me. She should talk to me about these things."

"She will, she jsut wants to know you'll listen to her."

"Of course I'll listen to her."

"Then stop telling her you'd protect her from things that are her right to know about, Keith. Seriously, telling her if Lara had told you whatever this is, you never would have told her? Dumbass move."

"I was being honest, what I'm supposed to lie to her?"

"No, but you should think it through. What are you trying to protect her from actually?"

"In some cases, herself, she's too bold sometimes, you know damn well she'd walk into fire if she thought she could rescue someone on the other side. Not caring about herself. She takes risks she shouldn't. She... fuck she's too much like you."

Lance laughed, he rolled his eyes. "She's way to wise and smart to be as reckless as I am. But she is bold, I'll give you that, Keith. Maybe you stop trying to hold back her potential and help her reach her, guide her as her Commander, but don't hold her back because you're afraid to lose her."

"I'm not going to watch her put her life in danger heedlessly."

"If you think she does it heedlessly, you aren't paying attention." Lance shook his head and grabbed an umbrella from Keith.

"Don't put her life endanger again, Lance," Keith snapped as Lance walked out into the rain.

Lance stopped trying to open the umbrella and turned around. "What?"

"I mean it. You do anything else to put her danger like you did last night and..."

"And what?"

"You're off the team." Keith shouted.

Just as Allura, Sven and Romelle stepped into sight. Allura's eyes widened and she stared at Keith. "Off the team?" she repeated. "What the hell, Keith? Why are threatening to kick him off the team for? After he just scored the highest marks out of everyone on the evaluations, including you, because of the flying!"

Lance stalked forward, locking gazes with Keith, staring into those damn near-black eyes of his and trying to get a good read on Keith's mood at the moment. Keith had been in an okay mood the night before, realizing he'd been an idiot boyfriend, he and Allura had been thisclose to making up in the control and then it'd all fallen to hell because Keith couldn't give up the protection. Put her in danger? Lance really hadn't and he'd made sure to cover any possible reason for danger on Allura's count well, disguising both them the best he could.

"Allura," Lance said. "Just ignore what he said, he's not thinking very clearly."

"No, I'm thinking very clearly. Probation isn't enough, grounding you inside this Castle isn't enough. You take Allura outside of this Castle again, in anyway shape or form that is not on my orders, that puts her in any danger like you did last night - on both your accounts, you're off the team."

"No he isn't," Allura snapped.

Keith turned toward her. "Excuse me, Princess, but I'm the Commander."

"And I speak for Voltron and no one else is going to be allowed to even try to fly Red Lion, let alone be able to too. Lance is her pilot. And I forbid it. As Princess, I have final say on Voltron and Lance is the Second in Command."

"Uh," Sven looked between the three of them. "What have we missed?"

"Lance in one of his stupid reckless moments took Allura to a secret locations they refuse to tell me about, but was dangerous enough for them to disguise themselves in. And I'm making it clear, he puts her in danger again he's out."

"And I'm making it clear..." Allura didn't get to finish her sentence, because Lance slammed his hand over her mouth, she squeaked at him, staring at him with her eyes. But Lance leaned into her and started to whisper into her ear.

"Don't argue with him, he's pissed off that you two didn't work things out, he's mad at me for knowing more about what you are thinking than you are. Just stop arguing with him right now, it's making it worse, okay?"

Allura nodded.

Lance let go.

Allura took in a breath and then she moved forward and grabbed Keith's face with her hands. "We are going to talk like adults about things, again, and we are going to stop going in circles where you end up more mad at Lance and me again. But you need to understand, I made the decision I was leaving the Castle with him last night and he didn't once leave my side and we were both perfectly safe the whole time. So don't you dare act like he walked me into danger."

She let go of his face Lance was impressed she'd managed to say it all with a steady and low voice, then she turned around and Lance watched her eyes land on Romelle, but he recognized the look on her face. It was the look she got right before fell into a heap on the floor sobbing hysterically. He watched her eyes widen in fear as she looked Romelle, the she was looking at him and she squeaked pointed at Romelle then herself and disappeared into the Castle.

"Uh, Romelle, she wants you to follow her."

Romelle who had been looking from Keith, to him, to Allura, who was now still staring at a seething Keith, jumped and looked at Lance. "Oh, oh! Of course." and she took off after her cousin."

Sven looked at Lance, his face confused. "How in the world did you know what that meant?"

"Oh, didn't you know you. He speaks Allura. He knows all sorts of things about my girlfriend. It's all quite interesting," Keith snapped, before turning around and disappearing inside.

Lance sighed, handed Sven the umbrella he was still holding and shoved his hands into his pocket. "I'm going to go take a walk, I think you should follow Keith. He needs someone to talk to about Allura, and I can't be it."

"A man leaves a planet for a little while..." Sven muttered as he walked into the Castle, after Keith.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Allura flew into her bedroom, wishing she had a real door, one that opened and closed on a hinge so she could slam it shut. She wiped at her eyes, hating that she was crying over this because what she needed to figure out what how to get through to Keith was there was nothing to be arguing about it. He was being ridiculous, she'd really thought they were making headway but then suddenly they miles apart again but the threatening to throw Lance off the team?

Impossible. That was impossible, it couldn't happen, there was no one who could take over for him, there was no other pilot. It was insanity and Allura didn't understand it at all. Her door chimed and she heard Romelle on the intercom.

"Allura?"

Allura took in a few breathes, thankful Romelle had followed her, maybe Romelle could help her find the right words to calm Keith down, make things better. She didn't want Keith and Lance fighting anymore than she wanting her and Keith fighting. She opened the door, guilt washing over her as she took in her soaking wet cousin. "You're soaking, I'm sorry," Allura said, ushering inside and running off toward her bathroom for dry towels and her extra robe.

"I could say the same about you, plus an extra layer of tears," Romelle said, taking the towels thankfully.

Allura quickly via her rooms communicator informed the staff to bring Romelle's things to her room quickly, rather than the guest quarters they'd be making up for her tonight. "I shouldn't be crying, not when what I need to do is fix this. I can't have Keith threatening Lance, for no reason either."

"What happened? You went off somewhere with Lance last night?"

"It was important Arus business," Allura said, unzipping her wet dress.

Romelle gave Allura a confused glance, as she stepped out of her own dress and wrapped herself into the fluffy white robe, Allura had given her. "Explain?"

Allura sighed, it was all so complicated, why was it so complicated. It had seemed so simple to her when Lance had told her what Lara had informed him about. Why he wanted to check it out, and it had felt so vital that she see it all herself, be there and take it all in with her own eyes and her intuition had been correct; the Seers had been why, they were what she was supposed to see. The was the most important piece of a very messy political puzzle in those caverns. She wished to go back, yet her intuition screamed at her to wait, to listen to the young woman in the cloak who had told them now wasn't the time. Allura planned to use the time to research, find the history she was never shown about this blackspot of Arusian History, she was going to find out everything she could, including her own father's opinion on it.

Right now however wasn't the time, right now was getting people to get over why she left the Castle and just to trust her. "Romelle, do you trust me?"

"Of course," Romelle said, stepping closer. "What does that have to do with where you went?"

"I know I'm young, I know I have a million things to learn, and that I need to open my eyes to a lot of things I am still naive about. I realize all of this, but I trust my own instincts Romelle. I trust my intuition, and Lance had something come to his attention that he told me about, because it was about Arus. I asked him to take me with him when he checked it out. He agreed, because he doesn't treat me like I'm a paper-doll that might tear, like everyone else..." Allura trailed off and walked to her windows, looking out at the pouring rain.

"Meaning Keith?"

"Nanny and Coran," Allura supplied.

"Okay, but mostly Keith?"

"I thought, I thought when we started dating, he'd back off a bit, see more as his equal. If anything I think he's worse, we need to talk about his fiancee."

"His fiancee?" Romelle questioned, surprised.

"He was engaged, on Earth, before they came here. Long time ago, she died before the wedding, it was a random accident. She was hit by a car crossing the street, he saw the whole thing, something stalled him from crossing the street with her. A phone call, I think."

"That's tragic, Allura. It does explain why he's always been so protective of you, however."

"I tell myself that, but he can't keep me insulated. And he can't threaten Lance like that."

"Did Lance put you in danger?"

"No," Allura said, turning to face Romelle. "I wasn't in danger, no more than he was, it wasn't safe per se, but we are both trained soldiers, Romelle. I was armed, I was with him, no one knew who we were which helped to keep us safe. Lance's idea. We were safe. If anything Lara was the one in danger, which is why he sent her home."

"Lara?"

"His girlfriend."

"Oh, okay?" Romelle said. "Allura, where did you go?"

Allura sighed. "Where we went shouldn't matter."

Romelle sighed and took Allura's hand. "I think it matters to Keith. He's protective, he's had a terrifying loss, we are in the middle of a horrible and dangerous war. And Allura, you did just say it, you are young, you do have things to learn..."

Allura closed her eyes, she heard Romelle's words, she understood, and she knew Romelle had a point, that she was right but she couldn't give away her secret. "I can't tell where I was, I've asked Lance to keep it secret. I need time to take what I learned and learn more, Romelle. I won't be able to learn what I need if Coran is watching me, and I know Keith. He won't agree to not tell Coran, I know. Like he won't back down on the fact that Lance took me somewhere that held some form of danger, and he shouldn't have. Because why? You know I just passed Garrison Evaluations, Evaluations made for them? For Keith, Lance, Hunk and Pidge. I passed them, they are elite soldiers, I fought off soldiers, with the tools Keith gave me by teaching me martial arts. He was proud of me, I like that, I like it when he looks at me and sees a strong woman who he loves and trusts. Because of him, I can fight, I can fly. I can take care of myself out there when we fight Doom. I've grown up in the last two years, an extraordinary amount. I would like the acknowledgement and not the constant overprotection. Sometimes, I swear Lance is the only one who treats me like I am a person. I have reasons for not saying where we went, he understands that and he won't tell. No matter how ridiculous Keith acts, why can't Keith give me the same respect?"

There was a long beat and then suddenly Romelle was hugging Allura tightly in her arms and whispering in her ear. "You've grown up so much since I last saw you."

Allura clung back, feeling so much better and stronger. "Thank you, do you have any advice?"

"Not a word," Romelle said. "I, well, I think you're right you need to talk to Keith about his fiancee, that loss, I think it factors a lot in regards to his issues with protecting you. And you two have just started dating, he's the Commander and he's always taken Coran's edict to protect you as the Princess of Arus very much to heart."

Allura nodded. "I know."

"It may take some time, for you to get him to remember to stop thinking about you as the Princess, especially since Coran has so many rules for the two of you."

"I hate those rules, I only agreed to them to date him, I'm beginning to regret doing that but then I wouldn't get to be with Keith," Allura sighed.

Romelle squeezed her shoulders as they were still pretty much hugging. "I have one more question."

"Yes?"

"When did you get so close to Lance?"

Allura rolled her eyes. "It just happened, over time, he's easy to talk too and he doesn't treat me like a Princess, he treats me like a woman."

Romelle raised her eyebrows.

Allura blushed and lightly smacked Romelle. "Not like that, Lance is..." Allura trailed off trying to try to explain her friendship with Lance; she'd come to the conclusion it would have happened in time, no matter the circumstances they'd just had a push by being pulled into the future and stuck there for three months. Three months alone, with only each other to talk too had given them a jump on a friendship that would have probably happened a bit more slowly here in its own time but it would've happened anyway. Allura already knew he didn't treat her like she might break in his training sessions with her, hand to hand or flying. She already knew if she wanted a straight answer on anything, ask Lance. They would've become who they are, but how did she explain it all to Romelle. "Lance is easy to talk too," she repeated, lamely, thinking that really did no justice to her friendship with him at all.

"Okay," Romelle asked. "How did you figure that out?"

"Well, I found myself talking to him, Romelle. Easily," Allura winked.

Romella laughed.

Allura grinned and heard her door chime. "Oh, good your clothes."

"Thank goodness," Romelle said and the two of them started for the door, but Romelle suddenly stumbled, Allura felt her cousins hand grip onto her upper arm and stopped.

"Romelle?" Allura asked, just as Romelle eyes rolled up and she collapsed on the floor. "Romelle!"

~~.~~

"You're soaking wet," Lara said, standing in her doorframe.

Lance shrugged.

"Why are you here?"

"Want to come to a Castle dinner?" Lance asked.

Lara rolled her eyes. "You walked over here in a wind and rain storm, to ask me to the Castle for dinner?"

"My big bosses are leaving tomorrow, big Castle dinner. Plus Sven and Princess Romelle are in town. And uh, look, Keith's pissed about last night and possible jealous of my friendship with Allura..." Lance trailed off and rolled his own eyes at himself. "Look, just come to the Castle with me will you?"

"Well, didn't you and Allura tell him where you went and why?" Lara asked.

"No, and you can't either, Allura wants it quiet."

"What?"

"She needs to research without her advisors eyes on her, Lara, can we leave it at that?"

Lara nodded, her arms crossed. "Coran knows everything going down there doesn't he?"

Lance raised his hand, his finger wagging. "Don't do a damn thing with that information, Lara."

Lara seethed. "I won't, I can't anyway, what can I do but run my big mouth anyway."

Lance laughed. "Big mouths can do damage," he said.

"Come inside, stand by the fire," Lara said, leading into her family home and pulling him into the kitchen to the fire that blazing there in the small fire place.

"How should I dress."

"Fairly formal, something long," he said.

"Great, can I carry and change there?"

"Yeah, of course. You walked right?"

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't know I'd end up here."

"Good, glad this wasn't premeditated, part of big plan to propose and make me marry you."

"Yeah, so Jude, huh?"

"He's a good guy, and he's cute," Lara said with a wink, before dashing out of the kitchen.

Lance shivered, and moved closer to the fire and put his hands out, rubbing them over the flames - fleetingly wondering if that really did any good - and trying to figure out how the hell he could make this situation better and not worse. The problem was, Keith was pissed Lance was friends Allura at this point. Lance was pretty damned if he did and damned if he didn't. He wasn't about to stop being friends with Allura, the woman didn't have many people she could really talk too. Romelle was one, he was the other, Keith the third. Keith really should be the first, Lance told himself, he sighed. Three people, three people she could really talk too. He supposed she could talk to Hunk and Pidge, they were great people, great friends, great soldiers but they weren't the type of people Allura would turn too about the things going on in her head. Pidge was too young, and Hunk could be insightful and down to earth but Allura's thought processes were too up and down, and sideways for Hunk to follow. Lance was frankly kept surprising himself with the way he kept up, then again he'd been told his thought processes made no sense either.

He laughed, he was completely using Lara here. He wanted to remind Keith he had a girlfriend - if he could really count her as one. She refused to date only him, she was dating Jude, and who knew who else. She was being Lara, he should just give up the ghost and stop trying to get her to go with his plan of dating him exclusively so they could fall in love and think about having a family.

A family, so what if he'd seen and liked the idea of having a family in the future, he'd known before he went there he wasn't going to have that in his future. He wasn't going to have it now, either. That future he and Allura had seen, had been some strange fluke of one, they'd saved the planet, that was all that mattered. Prophecies in Alfor's tomb, didn't mean much in the face of Allura's heart.

Allura wanted Keith, would always want Keith. Not that that bothered him, it didn't, he understood it. She was amazing, the best person he knew next to Keith. Together they made perfect sense, the two best people he knew. Keith and Allura, he wasn't close to good enough for anyway. Whatver the future was going to be, it'd be different than the on he and Allura saw. Her heart was set, even if Keith was being a complete dumbass.

Lance rolled his eyes at himself, for even thinking of trying to get Lara to fall for him, the thing was she was the only possible choice on Arus for him, that he knew of anyway. He could give up the plan, let things go back to normal with her and start acting more normal himself. Date whoever else he damn well pleased... The thought made his stomach turn unpleasantly.

"Oh, oh, Lance, I wasn't expecting you," Lara's mother said.

Lance smiled at Mrs. Wyeth, he liked her and didn't find her nearly as awful as Lara made her out to be. Unlike Nanny she didn't get in his face about his shortcomings as a gentleman, even if she may think it, Lance at least didn't hear it from her. He appreciated it, and as far as he could she really loved her two daughter, even if she no longer loved her husband. At least according to Lara. "What brings you by in such a storm?" she asked.

"Fancy dinner party tonight at the Castle, I thought Lara, might like to go."

"Oh, such a sweet boy. I'm rooting for you out of the main three," she said. "I keep telling her, you are the best catch. Steady job, you'll stay in teh military after the war is over, won't you? You could stay posted on Arus?"

_Stay posted on Arus?_ One question and it hit him, when they won this war they'd be expected to leave Arus. Leave Arus, the idea made the hair on his arms and neck stand on end. He shivered and he knew it wasn't from being damp. He'd never even thought about leaving Arus, leave Arus seemed insane to him. "I, uh, never really thought that far ahead, ma'am," he said.

"That is what Lara keeps telling me, but I keep saying a man who says he wants a family is thinking longterm whether he knows it or not. She says you're following something you know you can't catch for a reason. But I like you best. That Jude boy is just strange, and the other one, I can't recall his name he's only come here once. Once. Says he's serious about my daughter but can't be bothered to pick her up at her own home, more than once? Pfft."

"Right," Lance said to be polite, he was still thinking on the idea he'd be expected to leave Arus, which felt foreign and bizarre to him. Arus was home, he didn't miss Earth, if missed something from Earth he ordered it and it came in a package and he had it here. Anything else, air, ocean, desert, seasons, Arus had them all. Books, movies, music, it wasn't all that different and it'd always felt more like home to him than anywhere on Earth. Crap, would the Garrison force him somewhere else?

"Mom, what did you say to him?"

"Nothing," Mrs. Wyeth said.

"He looks like someone gave him poison," Lara snapped. "Why are you so pale."

"Uh," Lance looked up at Lara, who was wearing a fitted black raincoat with the hood up, and holding a huge umbrella, she had a garment back with her. "Here, carry."

He took it.

"I just asked him about his plans for after the war, if the his military would allow him to stay stationed here?"

"Oh, God, mother, I told you I'm never getting married."

"And you also used to say you'd never wear dresses or like boys."

"Whatever," Lara said, Lance felt himself being pushed outside, the rain wasn't as steady as it had been. "Sorry about that, like when the war is over you'd want to stay on Arus."

"I would," Lance said.

"What?"

"I mean, I never even thought, I've never thought about leaving Arus. Ever. I mean it's home, this is home. I mean not legally, I don't..." Lance sighed, his entire being felt all out of whack. "I like it here."

"Right, on a war torn planet, trying to rebuild while the fight is still going on, you've found a place where you belong," Lara laughed. "Sounds like something from a feel good movie."

"Lara it's not that simple, it's just that..." Lance sighed, his mind wandering, to how easily he'd felt right at home on Arus, in the Castle which was coming into view. "I've never felt all that at home anywhere else."

"And you do there," Lara asked, pointing to the Castle.

"Yeah, go figure, but it's not just the Castle, I really love this planet and the people. You're all really strong, resilient." Lance laughed.

"You did go to the Underground last night, right?"

"Even there, Lara, even there is resilience, it's just a different kind and more than you probably realize," he said, thinking about the Seers.

"I knew you were strange, but lucky for you're pretty."

Lance eyed her and shook his head. "So who is this guy who never picks you up at home?"

"None of your business," Lara said.

Lance sighed, thinking Lara better not be dating someone who wasn't good enough for her, he'd kill him if he wasn't. Jude was okay, he wasn't even jealous. Which was another issue he didn't want to think about, because he could keep telling himself he didn't want a family but he knew it was bullshit, and now that the idea had been put into his head all he could think was they'd be dragging him off of this planet over his damn dead body as he looked around at the trees, the path under his feet, the lake, and cloudy sky knowing every star, all the moons and the planets he would be seeing if it was a clear night.

Arus was his... Rather Arus was his home.

~~.~~

Sven sat on the bed in the room they'd set up for him, he'd been listening to Keith rant for last hour and he thought he was rather caught up on everything, even if he didn't quite understand it all. Pidge and Hunk, had joined them, because they'd come in to say hello but had heard their Commander ranting about kicking Lance off the team and ended up staying to find out what they missed.

It turned out dating the Princess of Arus, and one of your fellow pilots was quite tricky, Sven thought, as he watched Keith finally stop pacing like a trapped lion and look out the window at the rain. Pidge and Hunk both looked at Sven, meaning it was all up to him now. He had to say the words to make this better, to calm down Keith, to keep Lance safe on the team and to help the Princess and Keith make up.

"Romelle and I fight all the time," Sven said. "She's willful, stubborn and the bravest, strongest most amazing woman I know. I've come to realize that as much as I wish to keep her behind me when danger is in front of us, she's feeling the exact thing about me. We've decided to work together as equals, it quite hard. I was raised to be someone who doesn't let women fight, Pollox isn't all that embracing of her taking on such a warrior-like role, saying that is for men. But she says she was a prisoner of war and she is going to fight to free slaves too. I can't argue her point, plus to be honest when Romelle is mad, she scares me."

"I believe it," Pidge said. "I've seen her furious, Bandor says the same thing."

"Allura can be scary too when she's furious, I've seen her features go all regal and her eyes go steel. She did a few times with Graham and Fox this past week. She was great, Keith, right?" Hunk said.

"Fox was here?" Sven said. "How'd that go?"

"Keith and Princess didn't let him get away with anything, and neither did Graham. And Lance, Lance used him to take down Lotor, it was awesome," Pidge said.

"Take down, Lotor?"

"I don't want to hear about Lance being awesome right now," Keith said.

"I'll tell you later," Pidge said and he and Hunk exchanged awkward glances.

"Keith, I think you need to take a bit of a step back, aren't you being a bit unfair to Lance, in this situation?" Sven said, carefully from where he was and glanced at Pidge and Hunk.

Pidge and Hunk mouthed 'Good Luck,' then announced in unison that they had to get changed for dinner and took off. Sven shook his head and sighed, Keith remained at the window.

"Keith?"

"I heard you."

"I understand wanting to protect Allura, I feel it all the time with Romelle, but I have to remember she is strong, strongest woman I know after all she has been through at the hands of Lotor and Zarkon," Sven's hissed out the last two names. "I want vengeance for what they did to her, she wants freedom for all the slaves that live like her and I did for so long. As much as my darker thoughts go to revenge, I have to admit her way is better."

"I agree with her, I'm glad you have her, Sven," Keith said, turning away. "He took her out there, in the middle of the night, Sven. It was dangerous."

"They came back unharmed?"

"Yes. She got hurt today in evaluations, which I didn't want her to do but she wanted too and I couldn't stop her, didn't even try."

"So you do know to pick your battles?"

Keith sighed.

"He and she are oddly close, Sven. It's weird, it happened to fast."

"You said that a few times in your rant. I'll watch them tonight, let you know what I think but she is dating you is she not?"

"Yes."

"She wants to be with you?"

"Of course," Keith said.

"Then what is the issue?"

"She isn't being honest with me? She's keeping secrets with Lance."

"About where they went last night, where nothing went wrong and she came back safely."

Keith groaned. "They were out, before evaluations, at night, away from the Castle, out of contact."

"Pidge, said Lance had a radio on him set to go off if the Castle alarm went off, did he not?"

"Yeah, yeah, Lance covered his bases, what if he hadn't?"

Sven rolled his eyes. "Keith, Lance is reckless with himself, never with other people, unless he's really not thinking clearly. And it sounds like he was thinking rather clearly. Why did Allura say she went with him?"

"It was about Arus, important to her people."

Sven walked over to Keith and touched his shoulder. "I've found when Bandor and Romelle talk about Pollux unless they want my opinion, I should stay quiet. It's their planet, their world and as much as I have found a home there and love it... It's them who must make the decisions of how to rule."

"So, I should what pretend I'm fine with something I'm not fine with? He shouldn't have done what he did. Whatever this was, he should have brought to me or Coran. Not Allura."

"Well he brought it to the Princess. Which, really, Keith you can't fault for him for, even if you rather he hadn't."

Keith sighed. "She's getting more and more courageous, Sven. The more she knows, understands, the more brave she gets. It scares me."

Sven looked at Keith until Keith met his gaze. "Is this about Tara?"

Keith flinched, as if Sven had punched him but he kept Sven's gaze. "No? No...That was an accident, it was a crazy teenager showing off behind a wheel of a car."

"It was out of your control," Sven said.

Keith turned around, he sighed. "She's the Princess, Sven. No matter what her life is fundamentally more important than ours. Lance doesn't seem to get that, half the time he doesn't even seem to treat her like she's the Princess."

Sven sighed himself, Keith was ignoring his point, he wouldn't push it because it wasn't his place. He did understand Keith on this point however, he knew the importance of protecting of royalty. He'd sworn an oath to Arus and then to Pollux as life had led him there instead, with Romelle. He would risk his life for Romelle and Bandor in a moment. He had more than once, and always was yelled at for it, yet it was how it had to be, he was the outsider, he wasn't of Pollux, and they were the Royalty. The Prince who would be King and the Princess.

"I think Lance knows she's the Princess, Keith."

"Watch him with her tonight, Sven. Tell me if he treats her like a Princess."

Sven shook his head. "Yu sound jealous, Keith of Lance. Are you listening to yourself. It's Allura, she's had a crush on you since we got here. You and her have grown closer day by day. Now you are dating, she went to Coran because she wanted to be with you, Keith. Whatever friendship they have, it's nothing to worry about."

Keith looked at Sven. "Something isn't right, they got too close to fast. Watch them, you haven't been here. You'll see. I've got to go get dressed for dinner, do you have something with you, you can wear?"

"Yes. Romelle's head maid makes us pack for all possibilities. Even when i tell her we aren't going to parties. She'll be thrilled, I'll got to use one of my good suits."

Keith smiled at that, Sven decided to hope that was a good sign.


	29. Chapter 29

Twenty-nine

Romelle was still in Allura's robe, Allura herself was still in a dress slip, and her shoes but she wouldn't hear about taking time to cover up when it came to getting her cousin to the medical bay. Dr. Gorma had come in, taken blood and asked Romelle, who had regained consciousness on the way to the medical wing of the Castle a few questions. Now, Romelle had her hand over her mouth and Allura's eyes were wide as she stared at her cousin.

Dr. Gorma gave a knowing little huff, as he shook his head. "I leave you two alone to discuss the news."

The door closed to the room they were in and Romelle started to smile, her hand going to her stomach, after pushing away the fluffy robe that was in the way to get to the thinner fabric of her own dress slip. Both her hands landed on it and she stared at Allura, looking the happiest Allura had ever seen her. "This is such a mess!"

Allura felt like she did when she got hit in Blue Lion, crashed and would black out for a moment or two. Dazed, confused and shocked, but her mind was processing and there was a thread there in her head that realized this was a happy-thing. This was more than a happy-thing, this was an amazing thing a beautiful, amazing, miraculous wonderful thing and she started to smile herself, even though she was more shocked than anything.

"You've, you and Sven?"

Romelle blushed, a light flush of pink that added an extra glow to the joy she was currently giving out towards Allura. "I know, I know it isn't - allowed," she said with an eye roll. "Frankly, I was less worried about what the traditions were and more worried I'd never want a man to touch me ever again, but Sven... I love him, Allura, he can be terrifying when he's angry, he's lethal when he fights. But he's gentle, sweet and amazing with me. He was so patient and I found I didn't want to wait for bureaucracy and red tap ethat Bandor would have to go through to find us a date to be married in some far off... Oh, God, I hope Sven doesn't think he has to ask me to marry him now? We haven't even talked about it, yet? I can let think he has too, or that I expect him too, I... The Castle advisors are going to have fit."

Romelle trailed off with a bit of a giggle, still staring at her stomach.

"Allura, I'm so happy, and I can't tell Sven yet, I don't know how I'm going to keep my mouth shut."

Allura was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact Romelle had just matter of factly revealed two very private things to her about her sexual life. One that she hadn't waited like was expected of a Polluxian Princess, for their traditions were very close to those of Arus, being a sister Planet, and second that she'd never thought she could handle being touched again because of Lotor rapes. Throughout all of it though, Romelle had been focused on only one feeling, however, how happy she was about the baby, one with Sven, the man she loved and didn't want to wait for, the man she loved and didn't want to feel pressured into anything.

"Why can't you tell him? You're afraid he'll feel pressured to propose?"

"No, he won't let me go with him on the mission, and there is no way he's going without me. We made a pledge to save slaves of Doom together, as equals. He and I are peers, equals and a pregnancy isn't going to stop me. Women have been through worse while pregnant, I won't break but you know how men are around a pregnant woman."

Allura shook her head. "I've never actually..."

Romelle nodded. "On Doom, some of the other women, were pregnant, either before they go there, or afterward..."

Allura shuddered.

"They were all so strong, they went through Hell, the Drules and the robot soldiers were awful to them, worse than to them than to the rest of us women. But the male slaves, were overprotective, hovering even. One woman, she kicked a man away from her, saying she didn't need him to bring her water, or help her out. She'd given birth tofive babies before she was a slave, she could deliver number six while she was slave. And trust me, when she went into labor, it was the women who helped her, not the men," Romelle laughed. "It's oddly a good memory."

Allura's awe for her cousin rose, she would never be able to explain such strength or perspective to anyone, she thought. She rushed forward, sat on the edge of the bed, Romelle was on and hugged her. "I'll make sure Sven doesn't find out then," she said. "What happened to the woman and her baby?" Allura asked, having to ask.

"They survived down there for a long time, the baby was a boy. She helped out people all the time, especially the pregnant and the raped... She was very kind." Romelle closed her eyes. "One day, they took her out of the cell and she never came back in. A married couple, who had a son around the same time she did, they took in her boy, they were among the first we helped escape, they live on Pollux. They've told Cirian he's adopted, someday when he's older we plan to tell him how brave his mother was. I wish I knew where she had come from, he might have brothers, sisters, even a father still out there. For all I know she could be still be out there, because there was no rumor of executions, or deaths. She just was gone. It's why we want to check into the moon, it happened a lot and this moon seems to be a hub base, of small shipments of slaves. They land, they get off and then leave again - to go where? Why is Zarkon moving slaves and where too?"

Allura nodded. "It does seem important, strange, I'm glad you and Sven with your contacts figured it out. Maybe it could lead us to way to end this war."

"We can hope," Romelle said. "We should be getting dressed for the dinner, Allura. I want to make sure to ask the Space Marshal about how well you did our evaluations."

Allura blushed but she grinned as well feeling a surge of pride. "I'm hoping the guys will talk about their Academy days, I like hearing stories about them when they were there. Also, it might put Keith in a nostalgic mood, and if Lance manages to get us alone, I'm going to try talk to him about Tara, everything. I don't want to let too much space sit between us talking things out."

"Are you sure breaking the biggest rule Coran has set is a good idea?"

"It's not the biggest rule, it's the biggest spoke rule," Allura pointed out. "And yes, this is personal, very private and as close as Keith is to Lance, he's angry at him right now, maybe Sven could step in but he'd hold back even with one of them in the room. I need him to not hold back. Lance said he'd try figure out a way to trick him into it, so he doesn't notice until it's too late, then I'll keep them there."

"It's making an already mad bear, madder."

"It's a risk I have to take, Romelle," Allura said.

Romelle nodded. "I'm here," she said as she slipped off the examation table, hands on her stomach, before closing the robe. "I can't believe I'm pregnant, Sven and I were so careful."

"I guess it was meant to be," Allura said, smiling, so happy for her cousin. "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you!"

"'You cannot fight against what is destined to be your future.' My mother's favorite quote, she had a needlepoint of it in script up in her study in the Castle, I'd go in there and look at it. Whenever I balked at things a Princess must learn, or do, she said that quote to me. I say to myself now, I think, I think even though we were careful, this was a destined future for Sven and I. One I am very happy to embrace."

[italics]You cannot fight against what is destined to be your future.[/italics] Allura shivered at the words, she barely heard the rest of what Romelle said, but she tried to listen, sensing it was important, people didn't start things with quotes, if it wasn't something important. Romelle's mother said it, using it to help Romelle face up to being born a Princess. A position no one chooses it is chosen for you. Is it destiny, then?

Allura remembered the future, happily, she had a fondness for it. All the talks with Lance outside, the pictures she'd found of herself a happy mother and a strong Queen. She'd seen newspaper clippings, of herself, talking about her Rule of Arus. There was talk about Lance as well as him being a great King, the King Alfor might've been, but Allura had always felt gotten the sense it was her ruling Arus and Lance was by her side.

Allura didn't want to change the future drastically. She wanted Keith to be her husband, to be the one heralded as the King Alfor might've been, because she feels sure he would be as well, either one of them would be. She wants Keith to be ruling Arus with her but with the knowledge that she makes the final decision. Lance, he'd still be be by her side as well, an ear to listen, a friend to turn too, helping her sort through things. By her side as she ruled.

The change wasn't grand. Only with Romelle saying those words, Allura had a gut turning feeling that she and Lance hadn't changed anything at all in the terms of the future.

Romelle hugged her as she finished her little speech about the baby being destined for her and Sven, and how happy she was to have it, Allura hugged her back and when they broke apart Romelle was staring at her. Allura prayed she didn't look as freaked out as she looked.

"We need to ask for something for you to wear over that for the walk back to your room."

Allura looked down at herself, saw that she was only in the dress slip she wore under her dresses, remembered refusing to grab her own robe because she was too worried about Romelle's sudden faint. "Oops," Allura said with a slight blush.

~~.~~

Lance looked in his bathroom mirror, he hadn't shaved since sometime yesterday, maybe? He couldn't remember. He knew he'd wanted to go scruffy to the Underground, now he was beyond scruffy but he didn't really give a damn. He ran his hand over his face, and then glanced at himself again. Yeah, he still looked like crap, like he hadn't really slept, and was it really less than twenty-four hours since he left the Castle last night?

He shook his head and started to rummage through his shaving equipment for a trimmer, he didn't want to shave it off for whatever reason, why bother, he thought, idly. As he pulled it out from the cupboard under the sink, Lara walked into the room, a green dress on and stared at him behind using the mirror to look him in the eye.

"I need to be zipped."

"Turn around then," he mumbled, plugging in the trimmer.

"Going for the artistic scruff then?"

"Whatever you want to call it," he said, turning around to meet her back and zip up the dress. "People should be in the dinning room already, we are running really late, you should go up there."

"Up where?"

"Head toward the rec room, by then you'll see so many people they'll guide to the right place."

Lara nodded but stayed still as she watched him turn back to the mirror. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're different."

"Lara, I can't trim this almost beard and talk to you at the same time," Lance snapped turning around to look at her.

Lara held up her hands. "Fine. But maybe between here and the dinning room you could remember who is doing who a favor here tonight, Lance." She left the bathroom after that and a second later he heard his door slid open and closed. Lance closed his eyes, put his hands on the counter and counted to ten, told himself to try to remember to apologize to Lara later.

He was in one of his moods, they'd hit him and that was it, he was moody. It'd been the comment about leaving Arus. All he could think of now was the inevitable great day when they won, they stopped Zarkon and Lotor. They gave Arus the peace it deserved and they'd fullfilled the oath they'd made to Allura and Arus.

It'd be the worst day of his life, Lance realized because he'd have to leave Arus. Their would be nothing keeping him here, no ties to bring him back here to visit, not really - even if Keith somehow managed to get to marry Allura like she wanted. He didn't have a given citizenship like Pidge, who could choose to make Arus his home if he wanted, at any time, Lance closed his eyes feeling jealous and it was insane. Pidge's home planet had been blown to smithereens, there was nothing to envy there.

He turned on the trimmer.

~~.~~

Keith growled.

He tried to tie the tie for his suit again and it failed. He growled again because he had to do it himself because there was no way he crossing the hallway and asking Lance to help him out, like he usually did. He tried again to manipulate the red fabric, doing everything correctly, he knew he was, he'd looked it up. He had a cheat sheet in front of him, somehow his fingers turned to thumbs whenever he tried to put on a tie.

It could be that he hated wearing them, they felt restrictive, he felt like someone was trying to choke him whenever he had one on, but for tonight he had to deal with wearing one. So he was dealing, with one more thing, out of a thousand.

Allura was beautiful, empathetic, strong and it turned out trying, impulsive, stubborn and possibly really reckless. Keith tried pulling on the fabric and it came apart in his hands. He sighed, and decided he'd go ask Sven to tie the damn thing for him.

Stalking across his room, he pushed the button to open his door and walked out and nearly collided with Lara. She stopped short, he stopped short, and they stared for a minute only a hairbreadth apart. Then her hand took his wrist, brought it up and she grabbed the tie. "Problems, Commander?" she asked with an arched brow.

Keith not really being in a mood to deal with Lara, sighed and snapped. "What are you doing here?"

"Is the whole Castle in a mood?" Lara asked. "I'm here as Lance's date."

Keith felt instantly guilty, he shouldn't take his bad mood brought on by Allura not trusting him, about her insistence on making it as difficult as possible to protect her out on anyone else. Well, except Lance, since she was trusting him, since she was letting him protect her.

"I apologize. I wasn't aware he'd invited you."

"It was a last minute decision, but I agreed for some reason. Though he's very snappish tonight, never seen him like that," she said, taking the tie and wrapping it around Keith's neck.

Keith's first thought was good, then he felt guilty, then he remembered why he was mad and here was Lara. "Where did you three go last night?"

Lara's eyes widened and then she sighed. "I've been asked not to tell."

Keith groaned. "Lara, I'm the Commander of the Voltron Force and I've been asked by Coran to protect the Princess at all costs. I need to know what the situation was she was put in."

Lara sighed, finished tying his tie and stepped back. "Princess Allura has requested that it remain a secret. She's my Princess, Commander, you must understand that?"

Keith didn't, he didn't at all. "Lara, you spout off against authority and tradition every chance you get, and here you are telling me to respect that you have to listen to Allura because she's the Princess?"

Lara's green eyes flashed at him, Keith stepped back. He'd pissed her off, he knew it instantly, she went from a beautiful woman in a green dress who'd tied his tie to Lara Wyeth. She took one step back, she seemed to grow taller right in front of him and her hand came up and pushed him on the chest.

"I respect my Princess. I respect the Royal Throne of Arus. My problem is with the unspoken rules and medieval traditions of my people and where I took Lance and Allura was in regard to that. Allura is going to do something about something that is vital and important to me, personally and politically, Keith. If she doesn't want anyone else's nose in it, while she sorts through things in her head, even her boyfriend. Her stupidly overprotective boyfriend at that...than of course I'm going to respect her."

Keith nodded, not at Lara, at himself. He'd pissed her off and even if he'd had a chance of pulling any information from her which he realized now he hadn't. He never would get it now. "You don't think it's important to protect Allura?"

Lara sighed. "Of course I do, I had a moment of crisis about leaving her and Lance alone, when he sent me home for my safety. But he pointed out the facts to me Keith and he had a point. She knew how to use the blaster and the knife he armed her with. I didn't. She's a blackbelt. I don't know how to punch. She's a trained soldier. I'm a civilian. She may be the Princess of Arus. But she's also a Warrior. She's our Protector. She's the woman who flies Blue Lion and forms Voltron with four brave men to protect this planet from Doom. She's more than a title and she's not the average Arusian woman who does need protection. I think that's all she wants you to remember."

Keith hated it when people were right and he was... Partially wrong, he wasn't wrong, maybe neither one of them were? He sighed, nodded and then looked around. "Why are you out here alone?"

"I told you he's in a mood, he sent me out alone."

"Space Marshal Graham is probably already in the dinning room. I'm late, so I'll escort you up there," Keith said, offering his arm.

Lara looked at his arm and rolled her eyes. "We can just walk together, you know, Keith. You don't have to do the whole gentleman thing, it's just me."

"I can't win," Keith muttered as they started down the hallway.

~~.~~

Allura stood in the dinning hall, politely talking with Space Marshal Graham and Coran, wishing she could cross the room and join Hunk and Pidge, with the Garrison soldiers they'd gone up against today in evaluations. She noticed that none of the recruits Graham and Fox had brought with them to try out to be backup or for Blue Lion were in attendance, also Fox was nowhere in sight. She wasn't displeased by the later, but she wondered about the former.

"Space Marshal Graham, were are the recruits for Voltron that you brought with you?"

"Ah, I sent them back with Fox, I need to reassign them all so I thought I'd give them sometime with their families back on Earth."

"Oh, that is very kind and sweet of you," Allura said, smiling.

Space Marshal Graham cleared his throat. "I, well, I suppose," he said looking everywhere but at her.

Allura thought she caught a bit of a blush underneath his beard, she scanned the dinning hall again. Romelle had headed toward Sven's room, to see if he was still there before heading to the dinning hall. Allura's smile grew and she wondered if Romelle changed her mind and ended up telling Sven the good news and that was what was keeping them. She'd been amazed, she hadn't been the last of the team to arrive. Where were Keith and Lance?

"Ah, Allura, there is Commander Kogane," Coran announced.

Allura looked in the direction Coran was looking and saw Keith walk into the dinning hall through a side door, with Lara Wyeth. Her brow furrowed in confusion on Lara's appearance, but she made a polite goodbye to Coran and Space Marshal Graham and crossed the room.

Her eyes falling on Lara's dress. The amount she envied Lara's wardrobe was enough to make her feel superficial and highly ashamed but she couldn't help it. Here she was stuck in a full pink gown, albeit strapless, but nonetheless it was pink, it's skirt was too full and she felt like a little girl in it. Lara on the other hand was wearing a green silk dress, with tiny straps around her shoulders, it had a long skirt, but Allura could see the slit in its side that went up quite high, giving Lara's legs breathing room. It looked light and it looked beautiful. Not to mention the green matched Lara's eyes perfectly bringing them out and she looked breathtaking.

"I love your dress," Allura said as she got into earshot of the two of them. She glanced around. "Where is Lance?" As she asked she heard Keith make a weird noise in his throat. She glanced over at him and gave him a weird look. "Are you okay?" she asked, then immediately wished she hadn't because of course he wasn't okay, he was mad at her, he was mad at Lance.

"He told me go ahead of him, he's in some weird mood. He wasn't in it when he showed up at my place, it was something my mother said I'm sure."

Allura shook her head. "What could your mother have said?"

Lara shrugged. "My mother it could be anything. She has a knack to say the perfectly wrong thing. She does it to me all the time."

Allura didn't know what to say to that, Lara complained about her mother a lot, she was sure Lara didn't really dislike her mother as much as it sounded like she did. At least Allura hoped, all Allura knew was she wished her mother was around to make her complain too. "Lara, could you excuse me and Keith for a moment?"

"Of course," Lara said, and she started to walk away, only to pause and touching Allura's arm. "By the way, the secret is safe with me."

Allura nodded, alarmed that she hadn't even thought Keith might ask Lara where they'd gone but apparently Lance had, or Lara was observant enough to know not to tell anyone. Either way, Allura was thankful. "Thank you," she said.

"Right," Keith muttered. "Can't tell Keith."

Allura fought the urge to call him out on the passive-aggressiveness of that statement and turned to him and took his hand instead. "Keith, I want to talk about everything. Tonight, alone?"

She watched as Keith's frustration level with her increased by another level. He pulled her away from the crowd of Garrison soldiers, that had formed near them because of Lara but stopped short of taking them outside of the room, his eyes darting over to where Coran still stood with Space Marshal Graham.

"You have to keep pushing it, don't you?" he said.

"I don't see it as pushing it. I think we need to have a serious talk and I think it should be done privately as it's personal."

"Really, because it seems like Lance knows everything else about our lives, yours especially, why shouldn't he hear this too?" Keith snapped at her, though under his breath.

Allura narrowed her eyes. "This isn't about Lance, this is about us. Will you think about it?"

"Allura..."

"Please?" she asked, beseeching him as much as she possibly could with her eyes.

After a full minute of them staring at each other, Keith relented as much as she could expect. "No promises, Allura, no promises."

She smiled anyway, it was better than she could hope for and he said it she saw Sven and Romelle walk in behind them. She waved her cousin over, noticing that Romelle looked like she hadn't stopped smiling and one of her hands kept wondering to her stomach. Allura focused her attention onto Sven, however as she walked over to them and moved up on her toes to give him another kiss hello, since their earlier welcome had turned into such a scene.

"Hello, again," she said.

Sven smiled. "Hello, again, Princess. I haven't seen this many Garrison soldiers since we graduated, have you?"

"Not all at once, no," Keith said. "But I think I smacked around half of them today."

"Me too," Allura said, watching as one soldier very obviously hit on Lara and Lara reacted flirtatiously, touching him on the center of his chest with a laugh. "Where is Lance?" she said again, looking around.

"I'm sure he'll be here, soon," Sven said. "Do we know what's keeping him?"

"Lara said he was in a mood," Keith said with a shrug.

"Lara?" Sven and Romelle said in unison.

"Her," Allura said, her voice showing her disdain as Lara continued to flirt with the soldier. "I'm getting, Lance," she huffed out and stormed out of the dinning hall out of the door Keith, Lara, Sven and Romelle had all entered through.

Behind her, she heard Romelle saying, "Just let her go." Right now she couldn't really worry about Keith, Lance had to show up to stop Lara from getting another damn boyfriend. Couldn't that girl see what a catch she had? Allura fumed silently, her heels clacking on the surface of the empty hallways, the rest of the Castle had become a ghost town, all the staff and Castle dwellers were in the dinning hall.

She reached Lance's door and was about to just use her own access code to open it when the door slid open and he appeared. They both startled and Allura laughed but instead of laughing with her like she expected him too Lance snapped. "Allura, the fuck!"


	30. Chapter 30

Thirty

"Allura, the fuck!"

Allura startled for the second time in a manner of seconds. "Excuse me?" she asked, not quite sure she'd heard him right. Her eyes taking in his appearance, he was still unshaven like he'd been last night, but he'd done his hair in the usual casually tousled way that worked for him and would look unkempt on anyone else. His tie was crooked, but other than he looked put together, yet... Not. Something was wrong, the packaging was okay but Lance wasn't.

"What you doing here? You should be in the dinning hall already," he said, grabbing her wrist and starting down the hallway at a fast pace that with her heels and skirt she had to struggle to keep up with him. Picking up her skirt with her free hand and tripping a bit on her feet before she caught her balance, wondering why he didn't notice. "Lance stop," she shouted after she tripped again.

He stopped, noticed she wasn't all that balanced and reached out, grabbing her hip and he sighed. "It's just we're late, okay, today's been enough of a fuck up."

"I was already there, I came get you."

Lance let out a huff of air. "Why the fuck would you do that?"

Fuck was apparently his new favorite word, Allura thought. "What is wrong?"

He laughed, not his usual infectious, laugh at the ridiculous life hands you laughter, or enjoy life while you can laughter, but a bitter wry laughter that made Allura feel almost cold from the amount sadness she felt from it. "Allura, don't ask dumb questions."

Allura's eyes narrowed. "It's not a dumb a question when it's the obvious one."

"Look, let's just go get this night over with, okay? I want to just go get promoted, get you and Keith alone - at this point I'm willing to lock you two in a closet and pretend I had nothing to do with despite Keith threatening to murder me having kicking me off the team. I just want this day over, so I can get some damn, fucking, sleep."

"Promotions?"

Lance sighed. "When I told you it all works out the Garrison being here. That was it, I read an entry about us all getting promoted at a dinner party when Graham got promoted, while Sven and Romelle where visiting. Funny thing though, didn't mention anything about Keith wanting to kick me off the team..."

"He won't really do that," Allura interrupted. "You know he didn't mean that, he's not... He didn't meant that."

Lance shook his head. "Whatever, can we go now, cause I'm sure he was thrilled you came to get me."

"I just thought I should because Lara is..." Allura threw her hands up not knowing what to call what Lara was doing.

"That's why you came to get me, Lara is up there flirting and doing what she does? Play the field? Fuck, Allura, not a good enough reason, come on." He turned and walked off, leaving her behind this time to catch up on her own.

Allura watched him walk off and didn't know what to do, now they were both mad at her. Maybe? She wasn't sure what Lance was but he seemed mad at the situation, mad at her because of he situation and she knew Keith was mad at her for not being completely forthcoming and honest. She wanted him to trust her judgement and know he would know he important things when it was important for him to know. She would never keep him in the dark about anything vital. Also he needed to learn not to be so overprotective, to let her spread her wings, she had expected him to be another ally in helping her step away from Coran and Nanny and be more adult and independent and not a hindrance. It seemed easy to her, yet she wasn't getting Keith to understand it all.

She walked into the dinning hall, in time to see Lance upset the young soldier Lara had been flirting with. Allura couldn't help the slight smile on her lips as Lance, wrapped an arm around Lara's waist and kissed her cheek and Lara smiled at him and said, "I'll see you around," to the young man. He looked pissed and thought Allura was slightly amused, she couldn't help but picture Lara doing the same thing to Lance. She was so fickle.

"Everyone if would please, come around and take your seats," Coran announced from near the head of the table. "Space Marshal Graham, if as the guess of honor you would take the head of the table, this one time. Princess Allura?"

Allura nodded, found herself with Keith on her arm and walked up to take the seat on Graham's left, Keith on her other side, Lance slid into the seat next to Coran, who was on Graham's right, Lara next to him, Sven and Romelle next to her. Hunk and Pidge were next to Keith, she noticed, smiling at them briefly.

Nanny and her maids, walked in with trays and trays of amazing smelling food and the dinner began, with small talk and chitchat. Allura picked up the glass of wine that was by her plate, the only time she was allowed any alcohol were these dinners and took a hefty sip as she tried to not show how upset she was on her insides on the outside.

Keith was silent next to her, eating slowly and meticulously. Talking only when talked too, she couldn't draw him out at all and she had no idea if he would simply agree to talking to her alone later or not. Lance diagonally across from her looked sad, drawn, tired yes, but it wasn't about sleep and she didn't know how she'd added it to it or not. She tried to think of Romelle and Sven's baby to lighten her own mood, she tried to remain positive it would all work together, she talked with Lara across the table, the two of them talked with Sven, Romelle, Coran and Space Marshal Graham. Pidge and Hunk, carried a few conversations themselves.

Lance being quiet was loud. Sven kept glancing at Keith, then Lance, than Pidge and Hunk and the two of them shrugged because they really didn't know anything, Allura tried to stay focused on the moment but everything was getting to much. She was getting tired of trying to get Keith to really talk with her during the dinner like he would normally, and her eyes fell on Lance her thoughts bubbled over inside of her as she sipped at the rest of her wine.

_I can't have you being mad at me too, I can't deal with both of you being distant and weird. At least I know why Keith is so upset, what the hell happened. Damn it, Lance, look at me!_

As she thought, look at me, Lance looked right at her and then he went pale, his hands slammed down on the table and he started make strange movements and Allura heard shouting in her head.

_Choking. Allura. Now I'm choking._

"He's choking!" Allura screamed, standing up wanting lunge across the table and there was a shattering of glass and Keith was scrambling over the table, but Sven had already jumped up from his seat. Allura hadn't taken her eyes off of him, she watched horrorstruck as he tried to breathe and couldn't until Sven did some strange maneuver with arms around his back and a piece of steak came flying out of Lance's mouth.

Keith dodged it, just before it hit and them he was right there as Lance gasped for breath. "Ribs?"

"Fine, I think," Lance muttered.

Sven was still holding him from behind, hands on his shoulders.

Allura realized she could move and then she ran over, pushed passed Keith and the minute she met his eyes she couldn't stop herself if she tried. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, so, so, so, sorry," she cried out, tears streaming as she threw herself at him in hug.

His arms wrapped around her and his voice was rough when he spoke, low into her ear. "It's okay, wasn't expecting to hear you shout, Damn it, Lance, look at me, in my head that's all," he laughed his real laugh.

Allura let out a nervous laugh, something inside of her that had gone taut relax the instant she heard his laugh, she relaxed into his hold. "I didn't really mean for you to hear that. I just wanted to try to talk to you," she explained.

"I'm in a bad mood, shouldn't take it out on you," he said.

"Why?"

He sighed.

"Lance?"

"I don't want to leave to Arus," he whispered into her ear, so low she almost wasn't sure she heard him nor was she sure she heard him right because she didn't understand.

Allura pulled back from him then, to look into his face, into his eyes. She stared up and Lanced looked sad, too sad and she felt it effecting herself. She shook her head. "You aren't going, anywhere."

"I'm confused," Lara said, harsh, loud and sudden. Allura felt like a light switch had been turned on without warning and she blinked finding herself surrounded by Keith, Sven, Hunk, Pidge, Lara, and Romelle, while others kept a distance by staying at the table but were all glancing over now and again. Lance's hands fell away from her and Allura, leaving Allura to step backward a bit as they both glanced at Lara, as well as everyone else.

"Why is Allura sorry about you choking?"

"Oh, it's my fault. I shouted in his head."

"She's mildly telepathic," Lance explain at the same time.

Lara stared at them. "What?"

"Wait, what, you shouted in his head, across the dinner the table?" Keith said, that tone in his voice that Allura had come to realize meant his feelings were hurt. She turned toward him, stepping closer.

"It was an accident, it was probably because I'm emotional," she said. "It happens when I'm emotional, you remember. It happened with us when I was emotional, I heard you because I was so focused on you, Keith. Then I was able to talk back to you. I mean I've never done it on purpose."

"If I could do that, I'd be working on doing it on purpose," Lara said.

"Not helping," Lance muttered, rubbing his throat.

"I think you should see, Gorma," Sven said.

Allura turned. "Me too, I'll go with him."

Keith let out a frustrated breathe and grabbed her arm. "Why the hell do you need to go with him?"

"Because it was my fault! I startled him, you can come too, I know you were scared you vaulted the table!"

"You clambored over the table, Keith?" Lance asked, his face amused.

"You needed the Heimlech."

"Sven beat you."

"He was closer."

"Hero complex."

"Shut up." Keith said but Allura saw it the small smile and she hoped, hoped maybe it would keep up, a little bit. "The three of us will go to Dr. Gorma. Come on," she said. "Romelle, will you explain why to Space Marshal Graham and Coran please?"

"Of course."

"I'll go too," Sven said.

"Me too," Hunk and Pidge said in unison.

"Come on, Princess Romelle, I'll keep you company. You will be back, right?" Lara asked Lance.

"Of course," he said, Allura not liking how rough his voice still sounded but it was probably normal. "We all, kind of have to come back," he said, then he covertly winked at Allura.

Allura smiled, realizing he was talking about the promotions, but she could tell he still wasn't in a good mood, he was pretending now to feel better, she hoped he wasn't pretending for her benefit.

~~.~~

Keith sat down, in the waiting area next to Sven staring at the door Lance had walked through with Allura insisting on following. He had vaulted the table, he'd realized Lance was choking just as Allura shouted it and it'd alarmed him, scared him and he'd acted. He'd forgotten he was mad at his best friend in that moment, and for a few seconds after Sven saved his life but it'd all come slamming back, when he'd heard Allura's dramatic apology and the flying hug that lasted forever while they had whispered conversation. For the first time time since meeting Lara, he'd been thankful she was so brash because she'd startled them apart, and that they'd had to be startled apart.

He'd honestly been telling himself it was only a friendship, nothing for him to be jealous of and that he was being childish and irrational about it all. He would never kick Lance off the team, he was too integral to how they worked together. He was the second in command, and Keith relied on his piloting skills for over his battle strategies, not to mention Lance was his friend. His friend who'd Keith had watched stare into Allura's eyes less than twenty minutes ago, while his hands were around her waist and hers were around his neck.

It wasn't just friendship, Keith told himself, maybe they said it, maybe Allura even believed it but he'd seen Lance's face when Lara had snapped them out of the moment, Lance knew that moment shouldn't have happened, because he wouldn't look him in the eye. Through everything else, Lance had been looking him straight in the eye. Lance hadn't looked him in the eye until Allura pointed out he jumped over the table.

And for minute they were friends again. Then he got jealous because Allura wanted to come down here with him, she felt guilty and Keith still didn't understand how she'd spoke to him telepathically across the table. Coran had told her after the moment they'd shared across space, that Alfor had been mildly telepathic and in strong emotional moments it would manifest itself. Alfor had spent time working on his ability, he'd always planned to help Allura to learn to use hers, learning of it when she was a little girl and had gotten lost in the Castle after running off on Nanny. Alfor had never gotten the chance.

Keith understood how her emotions and even his own had helped them talk that one time, but it'd never happened again, and now it'd happened now across a dinner table. Allura said it was because she was upset, but she was mad at him? What did that have to do with Lance? There were pieces missing but Keith but Keith was beginning to think he had to stop asking Allura and Lance to tell him what they were, because they kept looking at him and saying they were giving him all they could. All he was doing by standing his ground was pushing her closer to him.

Pidge and Hunk were talking across the room, their heads together over a mechanic magazine they'd picked up. Keith sighed and turned in his seat to face Sven. "What do you think?"

Sven met Keith's eyes. "I think this was not a normal night."

"Humor me."

"Lance was in one of his moods, Keith. He didn't talk at all tonight at the table, except to grunt an answer, it didn't seem to bother Lara much, but it was bothering Allura. She was trying to get you to talk to her, but you were standing your ground as being mad and only giving her pat answers and polite chitchat."

Keith nodded and he felt ashamed. "I've been acting rather obnoxious since I went off at Lance on the stairs. I just want her to be safe..."

"You need to talk to her tonight, or tomorrow the latest."

"She wants to talk alone tonight. But...

"Keith, just break the rule," Sven said. "They're in your way anyway."

"They are in place for reasons, and I believe... I don't always think they are so wrong. She's young, and learning, and I..."

Sven shook his head. "What's going on now, is not going to be solved with Lance in the room."

"I was hoping you would stay in the room."

Sven shook his head. "Nor me. After the choking, they did seem rather close...but Allura felt bad and I think Lance was apologizing for whatever it was that her upset with him."

"She was upset with him, you think?"

"Yes, she was looking between the two of you the whole evening, when not trying to ignore it and do her Princess duty. She managed quite well but if you knew her you saw she wasn't very happy with either of you and it was upsetting to her. You are right, they are closer than I remember, but then I have been gone. And Lance was always talking to her, it is..."

"You don't find it surprising?"

Sven stayed quiet for a long while, Keith took it to be that Sven was going over what he'd seen and what he remembered and knew from visiting with Romelle before this trip. Keith stared at the door, thinking that Gorma hadn't even walked in there yet, where was the doctor. He was thinking of going inside there and joining Allura and Keith, who cared what the nurse said about only one person with the patient.

"Keith, don't," Hunk said, from across the room.

Keith looked up, he met Hunk's brown eyes and Hunk was shaking his head. "Let Allura make sure she didn't hurt Lance. Look, I mean it feels out of nowhere to us too but it's working for them. It's a friendship, and face it we could all use more than one out here. We're not home, we never know when Doom's going to hit. And Lance, you know he puts that bright face on most the time, but underneath he is that guy who wasn't talking tonight more than not. Friend like the Princess, good thing for him, right?"

Pidge was next to him, nodding.

Keith looked back at Sven. "The hug, was a bit..." Sven said, slowly.

"Intense," Pidge said.

"But she did almost murder him, by accident," Hunk pointed out.

Keith sighed. "I'm still standing up, and walking over that way to see if I can see what's keeping Gorma, we have to go back to the dinner. I'm listening," he added looking at his three friends with a decisive nod to say thank you to them. He was grateful. Before he turned he met Sven's eyes and knew that there was more to talk about there.

~~.~~

Lance wondered at himself that the only thing he wrote down, was going to write down - would he still just only write that down? He could write a better entry now after all, he didn't need to just write a simple entry about a promotion. Why had he only written a few lines about Graham finally and there being a promotion for them all, it was all he wrote about the entire time the Garrison forces were on Arus. Then a sentence about Sven and Romelle needing Red Lion and the discussion about it happening in the morning.

Nothing about Keith behaving uncharacteristically irrational and threatening to kick him off the team. Nothing about him walking in the rain, getting soaked to his skin and standing in front of Lara's family's kitchen fire and having something her mother says idly put him in one the darkest moods he can remember in a long time.

He'll have to leave Arus. The promotion he's going to get just reminds me of that fact. He's a soldier, a military officer, after Doom, their will be something else, probably. He'll still be in the Garrison army, he'd signed up for life, he could probably get out but would there be a point? The plan to get some sort of happily ever after, to try to have a family with Lara was a total failure. But he'd known it would be going in if he was honest, and he was in an honest mood.

He wasn't going to write down either. That he'd picked Lara, instead of tried to find someone else, someone who he could have had a real chance with. And he wasn't going to try to find someone he could have real chance with, either...

He was fucking in love with Allura.

Another thing he wasn't writing down. Hadn't seen that little fact written down once in the journals that were before the time he started dating her, and he'd purposely avoiding finding out when that was. When he'd looked at anything that was a Lance and Allura future, they were married with kids. And those he'd only really skimmed, and mostly marveled by the amount of times he mentioned Keith. Because he Keith were still best friends and there he was married to Allura.

Keith would never forgive him, Lance wouldn't forgive him, Lance was thinking of already not forgiving himself, because really when the hell had he let this happen? He hadn't realized it, it was not a thought in his head, or feeling in his gut, not at all. Not until she'd looked up at him tonight. Her eyes had been wide and the blue of a summer night just before dusk, his favorite time to fly or ride his motorcycle. She'd shaken her head and said in a soft voice, with pure sincerity and such honesty, "You aren't going anywhere."

Yeah, he was in love. He'd been lost in that hug, she'd attacked him with her over dramatic apology and the hug and the world became just them. She was sorry, he was sorry and then he was telling her why he was upset and it was a non sequitur and she reacted as such.

"Where is Dr. Gorma?" Allura said, from where she sat next to him.

She smelled way too good, which he always noticed, but now he was noticing. He couldn't do this, he wasn't as noble as Keith, his innate goodness only went so far and then he was a selfish ass, and a man this was insane.

He wasn't in love with her. He was tired, he was stressed out, his best friend was pissed off at him and the whole Arus thing had slammed him and he couldn't ignore it. The thought made him feel empty and he was just confusing loving Allura with being in love with Allura. Because face it how many women has he loved. None. How many female friends has he had. None. So this was him confusing loving a perfectly beautiful, and yes sexy, woman as being in love with. He'd almost died, by a mouthful of steak, or accidental telepathy. He wondered what would go on the death certificate, and started to laugh.

"What?"

"I, no, bad joke, you wouldn't like it," he said, speaking to her for the first time. He was right about this, she was Allura, the future was also just messing with his head. This was all this all was. Confusion of new feelings, he was growing as a person here. She was his friend, who also just happened to be hot. He loved her, he wasn't in love with her. This was good, he really just needed this night to end so he could go to bed. Maybe sleep in before he went off to a moon with Sven and Romelle.

"What?"

"I was just wondering what would be on the death certificate. Mouthful of steak, or accidental telepathy."

Allura hit him in the arm. Hard.

"Ouch."

"Bastard."

"You know this."

Allura sighed. "I do. But why were you an extra: Fucking Bastard, tonight?"

Lance sighed. "I don't want to leave Arus."

"You aren't going anywhere," she said, grabbing his hand. "Stuck here. With me."

He pushed away the way his heart nearly pounded out of his chest. "Now. Yeah, which is good. But later, after we win, Allura. I'll have to leave."

He watched her take it in and process it, and her gaze shifted from holding his back to the wall they'd both been staring at, waiting for Gorma sitting on the examination table. "Maybe you could stay here..."

"Doubtful, I mean Keith will, it'd be a different situation with him. And Pidge too, given you gave him a full citizenship. But I mean, I never really felt at home at home, but Earth and Nebraska are it, you know."

"If you never felt at home, why the tree?" Allura asked.

Lance laughed. "The tree was in the front yard, I climbed it all the time. It was my first taste of freedom, the first taste of being up high in the sky. I lived in those branches. Maybe that's why."

Allura squeezed his hand. "So you went all bastard with a capital B because of this, what brought it on?"

"Lara's mom, wondering how our relationship would work after the war. Like mother's do."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken it out on you, especially tonight. You've been through enough with Keith."

Allura frowned. "I hope he agrees to talk alone."

"If he doesn't, I'm locking you two in his room."

Allura looked at him. "What?"

"I've decided, he agrees, or I'm locking you two in his room. I'll get Pidge to help. He'll do it. They all will, Sven, him, Hunk. Then we'll all cover for you two with Nanny and Coran."

Allura smiled.

"Risking his wrath is worth it, though, right?" Lance asked.

"I hope so."

Lance nodded and swung his arm around her, as if they were on their bench, telling himself that he was fine, he wasn't in love, he just loved.


	31. Chapter 31

Thirty-one

Allura leaned into Lance, moving in a close as she could get so she could feel his chest rise and fall against her body where they touched. She could feel his breath too, choking wasn't a laughing matter on Arus, she wasn't really clear on how Sven had saved him. What she was, was grateful, highly grateful and trying not to cry, she felt like she'd been trying not to cry for days but she knew it was really since last night, for so many different reasons.

She was upset about the Underground, the violence, the crime and the wave of unbelievable sadness she'd sensed off everyone she'd passed by down there. The Seers hiding, scared her and the reasons for it disgusted her and she needed to talk to the Priests, find out where they stood, were they blindly accepting, was Coran? Like he blindly accepted the Underground all due to decades old decisions that remained. Like so many things that remained on her planet, but there was such a dichotomy as well. Arus had always been strong on education, science, technology and melding it with Magic - which had disappeared as well, where the sorcerers hiding too? Medically they were more advanced than Earth in some ways and far below them in others, which brought her back to Lance, thankfully still breathing.

"What was that thing, Sven did?"

"Huh?"

"To save you, it looked like a bear hug from Hunk from behind."

"Felt like one too," Lance joked. "It's the Heimlich maneuver, named after the guy who invented it. When someone is choking you put pressure right under the ribcage and puts pressure upwards on the windpipe shooting out the obstruction they swallowed wrong."

"Oh, thank goodness, usually when people choke here, there needs to be what you guys call a trach and then the doctors have to go in."

Lance shuddered. "We'll get the word out on the Heimlich then," Lance said. "Save a lot of Arus lives."

"I'm sorry," she said again, the fear she felt rushing up again, making her shake.

He squeezed her into him. "Hey, come on, stop it. It's not a big deal."

Allura brought up her hand to wipe at her eyes, tears were threatening to fall and they were stinging her eyes. "Your life, big deal."

"I'm alive," he said. "Don't ruin your makeup."

"I can touch it up," she muttered.

"This isn't just about me," he said, squeezing her again.

"No. It's about last night, it's about the Seers, and possible the Priests and Coran. It's about how my planet is so far advanced in one thing and so far behind in everything else, it's stupid traditions and what to honor and what not too, and it's Keith, and it's you. And, I am tired."

"You'll talk to Keith tonight, then I'll be gone, it might help."

"Gone?"

"Sven, Romelle, Red Lion? I have to go, he can't fly it, and it will give you and Keith time, right? I mean Hunk and Pidge will have to chaperone, but it might help out."

Allura frowned, she'd forgotten about why Sven and Romelle were in the Castle, with everything that was going on in her head and with Keith since their arrival. "I really need make things better with Keith if you're going to be gone, I won't have you and our bench for any sort of ranting session or rave sessions."

"You'll be fine without me for a day at the most," Lance said. "Where the hell is Gorma? We do need to get back up there, this is taking forever, and really I am fine."

"The fact your voice still sounds all weird, though, that shouldn't be checked out."

"He's going to say my throat will be fine in a day."

"I still rather he look at you."

"I'm fine, Sven did the maneuver right, so he didn't break or crack any of my ribs."

Allura frowned. "Is that why Keith asked that?"

"Yeah," Lance laughed.

"Well, I want Gorma to check that too, then."

"Allura, I'm fine."

"Lance, no arguing with me," Allura said in her Princess tone.

Lance chuckled but he didn't say anything else, but Allura could feel him smirking at her, completely amused. She didn't dare look at him because she knew she'd start laughing. She did however look around the room they were in for a clock, and not finding one she resigned herself to waiting longer. As long as it took, she needed an expert opinion Lance was fine.

"Maybe you could yell at him to get in here?" Lance said.

"What?"

"Do that telepathy thing," Lance said.

"I can't do it on purpose."

"Sure you can, they told us you could."

Allura remembered the conversation he was referring to, in the future and she shook her head. "But I was older than, and what they said was the married us talked, that made sense to me. An intense emotional connections are known to make the Arusians with the capability connect easier to the subject."

"Okay, I get that, Keith and you intense connection, and that huge fight before we all went off without you. That makes sense, but me across a table."

"I'm two seconds away from crying about a million things, then you turn into so quiet broody thing I felt all alone. I was intensely, angry at you and wanted your attention."

"I've got stuff going on but I shouldn't have taken it out on you, at least not like I did on the way to the dinner," Lance said.

"I know, your apology was already accepted."

"Yours too, but you keep saying it," Lance laughed.

"I know, but I nearly killed you."

"And I'm saying use that power to rush the doctor, since you're the one insisting he look at me."

"I don't have an emotional connection to Dr. Gorma," Allura said.

"I would hope not," Lance said, cracking up and then coughing a bit after laughing to hard.

"See, that can't be right."

"That is probably more about me walking in the rain, heck so could be the voice," he pointed out.

Allura hit him.

"What?"

"Why the hell did you do that anyway?"

"Keith not trusting me to protect you finally got to me, I mean seriously, he thinks I'd thrust you into danger? I know he's not really thinking clearly but..."

Allura nodded. "I get it. Sometimes I feel like he doesn't trust me as team member at all."

"He does."

"He trusts you too."

The door opened then, and the looked to see Gorma walk in, with Keith standing right behind him. Hands on his hips, staring into the door, Allura couldn't see it because she was smiling at Keith, but she felt Lance's arm raise and she just knew he had waved at Keith. She tried not laugh but failed right before Gorma closed door, saying. "Okay, let's see what we should check out. Sorry for my lateness but I was delivering a baby."

~~.~~

Keith rolled his eyes in response to Lance's wave, Allura's smile though as always made him feel better. It was bright and beautiful as always, she was a light in the world, was it wrong he wanted to keep it bright. Didn't want to risk anything dimming it for the world? Galaxy? He chose to ignore that Lance's other arm was swung around Allura's shoulder's, it was usual position for them if they sat together on the couch in the recreation room, or down on the garden bench. It meant nothing, Hunk had been right, he was Allura's boyfriend, they were dating, Lance and Allura.

It didn't make sense. He was too, experienced and he liked experienced women, crazy women too. Challenging high maintenance, bonkers women who grated most other people the wrong way, Keith thought. Lara wasn't the first of many brash and gorgeous women to sleep in Lance's bed, she'd just managed to stay there the longest. Which had more to do with Arus, and the way women were raised on this planet than anything to do with Lance, or feelings.

Keith hadn't only watched Lance and Allura tonight, he'd watched Lara and Lance, it had looked like Lance's attempts to get to date only him were at an end. As he thought it however, Lara came walking into the medical bay, her eyes searching the waiting room, seeing him she hurried over.

"I'd thought you would be all back by now? Were their complications to whatever, Sven did, I'd never seen it before, I thought it worked better than to have a civilian try to perform a trach and get the person choking to a doctor, but really is something wrong with him?" Lara rambled out and for the first time Keith found himself seeing that Lara Wyeth did give a damn about Lance. Also that choking on Arus, apparently was handled very differently than on Arus.

"Uh, he's fine. Gorma's just making sure Sven didn't cause any damage. Cracked ribs, broken ribs, internal injury are possibilities, it's just a run through."

Lara narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you sure, he did look fine, so I wasn't going to worry, but..."

"He's fine. A trach and then a doctor?"

"Yes, to get the obstruction out of the throat, most people don't make it, because of infections due to the tracheotomy."

Keith felt his eyebrows hide under his bangs, he looked over at Pidge. "Make a note that we need to add Heimlich maneuver training all Arusian soldiers, and get it out to the public as well."

Pidge nodded.

"Try to find out if there is anything else we take for granted Arus doesn't. With all the advances they do have, I forget they don't have other things we do."

"I do it too, sir," Pidge said with a nod.

"He's fine then," Lara snapped, getting Keith's attention back on her.

"Yes, he's," Keith started to say when the door opened and Lance and Allura walked out, Gorma following behind them.

"Keith, I've told Dr. Gorma that you will show him how to perform the Heimlich maneuver as soon as you have the time, so he can teach his staff."

"Yes, yes. And I think Lieutenant McClain's throat issues are due to lack of sleep and walking in the rain, rather than the choking, he's in fine health."

"Thank god," Lara said.

"Lara, why are you down here?"

"You were gone for over an hour, I got worried, choking is no laughing matter on Arus," she walked over to him, started to touching his throat. "You are quite fine, though, aren't you," she said with an arched brow.

Keith rolled his eyes, they landed on Allura. She stepped forward, after a bit of a glance and eye roll at Lara herself, and she took his hands. "Will you talk to me alone?" she asked.

Keith smiled, she did amaze sometimes. She'd shown her age earlier upstairs, or so he'd thought with her overreaction to Lance's choking, but now he wasn't so sure her worry had been over the top. He'd been thinking about things, thinking about what Hunk said, what Sven had said, even what Sven hadn't said yet. He nodded. "I will, but first we have to go back to the dinner and then I want to discuss the Red Lion/Slave moon situation with Sven, Romelle and Lance..."

"Only one of those statements is true, Commander," Coran's voice said, startling the group of them.

Pidge and Hunk, walked up to join Keith, Allura, Lance and Lara, in the center of the room, Sven walked up to take hold of Romelle's hand, as she had walked in with General, Coran and Nanny. Keith took this all in and felt ashamed they had never returned to the dinner. "I am so sorry Space Marshal Graham we should have returned..."

"Pishtosh, young man. You were staying with your man, a commendable choice. Alas, I do have to get back aboard my spaceship and send it back toward Earth. Therefore, I chose to say my final words to the Voltron Force where they all were located, together as friends and teammates. Also with their extended friends and family. I brought Coran and Ms. Hys along with me because I felt they would want to hear what I have to say."

Keith straightened his spine, behind them he felt Pidge, Hunk and Lance move up, both he and Lance, reached back and pulled Allura up with them. Keith whispered to her, "You're part of the team."

"Thank you," she whispered back, smiling up at him, he ignored the fact she hadn't let go of Lance's hand yet. Keith looked Graham in the eye and nodded. "We're ready sir," he said his heart pounding, he felt nervous and sweaty suddenly, feeling that whatever was coming something big, huge even, he knew it in his bones.

"Sergeant Stoker and Sergeant Garret, this has been far to long in the making. I am hereby promoting the two of you to the level of Lieutenant."

Keith forced himself not to smile, but it was hard when Pidge squeaked and even Hunk made a strange sound. The two of them had both thought they'd reached the the peak of their careers with Arus. They all had, but to stop at the level they both had probably been a bit of a blow to their egos, not that either one would have ever said it out loud. Graham walked forward and handed them the insignias they would need for their uniforms. Graham then moved to stand in front of Allura, which surprised Keith, Lance should be next.

"Princess Allura, your scores this week were quite frankly phenomenal, for one who did attend Military bootcamps, or Academies. These men have trained well, and you would make the Garrison proud if you were a member. This is by no means real, but I have given you an Honorary Rank of Lieutenant in the Garrison and all the privileges that come with it. Such as they are," he winked at her and handed her an insignia and piece of paper, which Keith guessed explained what her rank meant.

He eyed Nanny and Coran, as Allura thanked Graham, telling him she how honored she as and she hoped to continue to work well with the Galaxy Garrison. They looked a bit torn between pride and horror, Keith then looked toward Lance, who looked completely proud of Allura and amused by the torn guardians watching. Keith was proud too, he needed Allura to know that, he was proud there was nothing torn about it. She'd fought for this, she'd work hard and it wasn't really on him, Lance, Pidge and Hunk, she'd been the one who'd done the work. He squeezed her hand the second she slipped her hand back into his grasped, holding her pin and paper in the other. She smiled up at him, before turning her eyes back on Graham who was now standing in front of Lance.

"First of all, I want to rectify something that you were not turned down for, quite wrong in retrospect. I looked over the records of the decision, myself, when I was contemplating this, and I saw what swayed the panel was a speech by Fox. A very biased and wrongheaded speech, of course, as you can well guess. Unfortunately as your teacher at the time his opinion held a powerful sway, despite what the men and women on the panel had seen with their own two eyes."

Keith felt his throat start to tighten with emotions, was Graham doing what he thought he was? If so, it was only right, at the time he, Sven and Lance had been more angry than words could explain when Lance hadn't been given the privilege, and really the right that belonged to him to belong to the best of the best.

Graham opened his palm then and held out a platinum set of pilot's wings, the wings Lance always should have had, the wings Keith had but shouldn't have been given. The wings of the top pilot in the Academy for their year, entrance into the Platinum Wing club, which was an unofficial club of the best of the best. One Keith had never unofficially even thought of hobnobbing with but he knew Lance had once upon wanted to. He probably didn't now, but the wings, the wings mattered.

Allura's hand squeezed his and he looked at her, her eyes were wide with the question, the very important question, how big of a deal is this? Keith nodded and mouthed big and she smiled that sunshine smile of hers that he loved. He smiled back because he was happy for Lance, she should be too.

Lance's hand shook as he took the wings, his voice cracked as he said thank you and Keith noticed he was purposely not looking anyone in the eye. "I am also, promoting you to Commander, bypassing Lieutenant Commander for the obvious reason you should have been one when you came to Arus, and it was behind the scenes politics that shouldn't have factored in to your lack of rising through the ranks at the proper pace. Trust me I checked all the paperwork, I got little sleep last night, Commander."

"Thank you," Lance said again, still not looking at anyone.

Keith agreed, it was true, he and Sven had gotten the right promotions at the right times, something always seemed to get in Lance's way. There were times when one could say it was Lance in his own way, yet it never really sat right with the three of them and Keith was impressed with Graham for looking into it after watching Lance in action. He'd had to fight for Lance on his team, the team that ended up the Voltron Force because of happy accident. Fox had tried to stop it, it'd taken him and Sven walking in and refusing to go without Lance as their pilot, stating they wouldn't feel save with another pilot in the sections of space they would be exploring. It'd worked, barely.

"Keith," Graham stopped in front of him. "You have a impressive team and you lead them impressively in a very chaotic situation where you never know when your enemy will attack. You're helping lead the team in helping this planet to rebuild. These are impressive feats and you have created a great ally with Princess Allura which will help the Alliance I believe for many decades to come. You are now promoted to Captain."

Keith took the insignias from Graham, happy to see his hand didn't shake because he felt like it should. He was a Captain, he was too young to be a captain, but it felt good, it felt right. He nodded, finding he was afraid to voice his thankfulness. Graham nodded back.

"I again am sorry that we came here Princess Allura, trying to do things our own way. You and Captain Kogane, with his impressive team which includes you showed us how wrong we were. When I return home, I will be using different criteria to try to find young men to send to Captain Kogane and Commander McClain to vet for backup pilots for Voltron. I do think that finding you five some backup is important, after watching you for week, which I am assuming was a rather tame as attacks go, but was still full of moments that tried you all. My own fault at times, I'm sure. Now I must say goodbye."

They all said goodbye, Graham spoke with Coran for a few moments, shook Keith and then everyone's hands and got kissed by Allura on both his cheeks before he managed to leave the room. Keith then watched as both Allura and Lara converged on Lance, who had stepped away from the crowd to stare at the wings. He wanted to stop them both, Lance needed the moment, but he was to far away to stop Allura and he was kind of afraid she'd take it wrong. He was mad at her after all, he was, he wasn't sure he wasn't going to not be even if they talked it out and came to some sort of something...

He took a breath, he had to try to compromise, to calm down, and Sven did have one important point he had to question if his past with Tara was affecting his reactions to Allura now. He and Tara hadn't lived in a world in constant danger, he and Allura did, yet he'd lost Tara to an accident and Allura on a weekly sometimes daily basis flew into danger in a machine that was capable of wrecking in a way much worse than even a hit and run.

Allura was the first woman since Tara to get into his heart, he didn't want any harm to come to her yet he had no say, no control, so when he could he tried. Even when he couldn't he tried. He felt like he was arguing with himself in circles in his own head, let alone with Allura about everything. It was absurd, he just hoped they didn't get caught tonight breaking Coran's most fundamental rule.

He glanced back at Lance with the two women, it looked like he'd pocketed the wings, and sounded like he was explaining what wings in general meant to Lara. Allura was standing at the side, studying Lance's profile an odd expression on her face that Keith couldn't quantify, he knew he so well, but put near Lance and she became a stranger. He realized it was his issue, he had to learn to not react with possessiveness or jealousy, because it would make things worse. Their friendship did seem overnight to him but the truth of it was it wasn't going anywhere and it was a fundamental truth.

Keith had to learn to accept it, he reminded himself again. He and Allura needed to talk, he took a deep breath noted that Nanny and Coran had left the room, leaving his team, including Sven, Romelle and Lara in the waiting room. "Guys, guys, we have to celebrate our promotions later, okay. Right now I want a quick meeting about the moon, and the use of Red Lion, in the recreation room. Everyone can go change into something more comfortable. Then, uh, Lance, Sven you two will cover for us?" he motioned between him and and Allura.

"Of course," Lance said without missing a beat. "If you didn't agree, was locking the two of you in your room."

Keith groaned and thanked Buddha he'd agreed to talk to her alone.

~~.~~

Allura didn't pay any attention to the meeting. She changed into a pair of jeans, of Lara's that Lara said she could keep and one of the many shirts, Lance had shown up with one day, saying he didn't know who they belonged too but they'd been left behind. She'd laughed and picked out the tops she liked and then gave away the rest to the maids, all the while wondering if the women ever wondered where their clothes were and thought, oh in the Castle with Lance McClain. She was going to go shopping someday, though, because really it was time to give up the pink pantsuits and the pink dresses.

Keith had eyed her when she walked in, but then he smiled, she supposed it was because the jeans and the shirt she wore covered her more than they didn't. It was simple blue top and a pair of black jeans, she'd been careful to make sure what she picked out covered her tattoo. She figured that argument should happen at a later time.

Now they were walking into her room, Keith refused to have the conversation in his room, because it was easier for him to sneak out of her room than for her to sneak out of his. So he said, she didn't really believe that but she decided to let him win the argument. Lance and Sven were leaning against the wall outside the door, side by side, arms crossed against their chests, shoulders touching. She looked back at their guards and giggled.

"What are you two going to tell people, you're working on looking like twin statues?"

Sven looked himself and Lance up and down quite comically but Lance stuck his tongue out at her and said. "I'll charm the women, he'll charm the men."

"Eh, which one of us is in a long-term relationship?" Sven muttered.

"Exactly, why you let me charm the women, Sven. You want to get Romelle, upset with you?"

Allura laughed as she stepped into her bedroom, one step after Keith. Keith looked around the room, at the scattering of ball gowns and the few clothes Allura had from the united efforts of Lance and Lara on the floor and the bed. "I didn't think I was going to have company," Allura said, starting to pick things up.

"Where did you get these jeans and tops from," Keith said.

"Lara and Lance," she said, shoving them all into a drawer, Nanny never opened because she thought it was where the mice lived.

"Lance?"

"Girls leave things he says. He doesn't know who they belong too and Lara gave me her things to keep. She knows I want to be more comfortable and tone down the amount of pink."

"Pinks your favorite color."

"It was," Allura said, turning to face him. "I prefer blue now, actually, I mean maybe someday I'll go back to pink, it truly was my favorite color once."

"Oh," Keith frowned. "Why didn't I know this?"

"It really never came up, Keith. It's not like you guys and I ask each other such silly questions like, what is your favorite color."

Keith shook his head and he took her hand and led her to the couch she had by her windows, as they set down he said. "But I want to know these things, I should think to ask."

Allura smiled at him, the usual warmth she felt when alone with him, with all his attention focused on her rolling through her. She curled her feet under on the couch and moved as close to him as she could get. He moved so he was facing her, the hand not holding her right hand, landed on her leg and she felt her blush but smiled through it. It was a good blush.

"Where do you want to start," Keith asked.

"With you," Allura said, she took a deep breath. "I want to listen to your side, your main issues."

Keith nodded but he was silent for a long time, Allura knew he was gathering his thoughts. Unlike her and Lance he never thought out loud, or he rarely did, he'd done some thinking out loud today she thought. She was a little pleased he felt so much for her that happened, though it made her feel guilty at the same time. She had to use a lot of willpower to remain patient well Keith was gathering his thoughts and thinking out the right words to say to her.

"I was wrong to yell at Lance, threatened him like that, I would never throw him off the team. It'd... I just wouldn't. I am, I get that to you two your friendship happened organically but to me, I still feel I woke up one morning and there was a you and Lance. I find myself not jealous of Lance per se but of what you share with him. He knows things I don't know, he hears things before me... like pink not being your favorite color anymore I'm assuming?"

"It came up in a conversation," Allura said.

"Right, probably because he asks the right questions. He was always better at talking."

Allura shook her head. "He's just Lance. I always thought you were wonderful at talking, inspiring, leading. You're amazing, Keith."

She watched him duck his head but he smiled that shy smile she loved, and she grinned. She liked complimenting him, he was always so modest, he had no had clue how wonderful he was. "Congratulations," she added. "On being made, Captain. It's big isn't."

Keith nodded and he really grinned at her, she saw teeth, and it made her smile wider. "I never expected it to happen, never. Not out here, and not so soon."

"You deserve it. You're our leader, no one else could do what you do."

"Thank you. But back on topic?"

Allura nodded, she loved his focus, his earnestness.

"Lance, you tell him things you don't tell me. And, I was handling it, with the small things. I mean I don't tell you things I tell him. He's my best friend too. So... But last night the two of you took off, Allura. You took off and went somewhere, admittedly dangerous."

"Kei -"

He held up a hand. "Please let me finish. It was admittedly dangerous, he wouldn't have walked into the weapons room and armed you up if it wasn't. He wouldn't have made sure you both close to unrecognizable if it weren't. He sent Lara home, she told me that much though she swore her allegiance to her Princess."

Allura eyes widened at that, she didn't think Lara had much allegiance to any authority. Keith smiled at her, nodded and continued. "I felt as your Comm- Captain, that I needed to know. I felt as the man tasked by Coran to protect you, that I needed to know. I felt as your boyfriend I needed to know. I still do feel this way, but it's been made clear to me by you, Lance and even Lara you need to think, you need to deal with this on your own. And while I may think you should confer with Coran, you don't and I should respect that. And that I do believe. I should respect that, and I do believe you're intelligent, wise and empathic Allura. I do just worry about what you don't know and understand about ruling a planet, and the politics involved."

Allura nodded. "I have a lot to learn. I know, but I have to deal with this my own way, Keith. I will tell you, everything, I hope sooner rather than later but will you give me time to think and research some things on my own."

"Research?"

"Within Castle grounds, I promise," Allura laughed. "History books, in the archives. Nanny will be happy, she'll think I'm studying." She watched him visible relax.

"Both you and Sven, have mentioned Tara."

Allura nodded.

"I am not ready to talk about her, Allura."

Allura nodded.

"But, I'm willing to concede that I may have been wrong in the idea that how she died isn't effecting how I react to you in danger, and my over reactions and overprotectiveness. I need to do my own thinking, and meditations on it however, and in the mean time, I'll try not to?" he didn't sound to convincing but Allura could live with the thought that counts. For now.

"Okay," she said. "I agree." She took a deep breath inward, and then she moved forward and hugged him tightly. "See, that wasn't hard at all," she whispered into his ear.

Keith let out a breath and she felt his head shaking against her. "Easy for you to say, you didn't have to watch you cry and yell at me."

Allura moved backward. "I have one thing to say because, well I think it got lost in translation. I need to be more independent from Coran and Nanny, Keith. And I know you agree with them on some things, but I need your support on it, it's important to me. And I'm going to push them, and it'd be good to know even if you disagree with me personally, you'll have my back too?"

Keith sighed. "That's a tricky line you're asking me to play, they aren't really behind us dating, Allura. I don't want to do anything to have Coran take the permission away."

"Who cares?" Allura said and she meant it, she needed him to know that. "I don't care, I'm dating who I want, they will get told."

Keith nodded. "I will continue to date you, I would. But Allura the permission, the peace, it is important. They love you, they are your Guardians, they raised you and they feel honorbound to do right by you and Arus, in your parents honor. They want what is best, and they are fundamental to you being the best ruler you can be, you do know that?"

"I know. I do. And they good people, with the best of intentions. Yet, they are old fashioned and I can't help but wonder if Coran's point of view is what my father would want me to do? I need to figure that out, on my own."

Keith nodded. "I will do my best, I will always stand by you, but know I am going to do my best to maintain the peace with them too, okay."

Allura sighed, she knew he was right, it was a tricky spot he was in between her and them. She nodded, and hugged him again. "I know, I understand. We'll figure it all out as we go."

"Yes," Keith said into her ear, hugging her back, his hands sliding down her back, then back up and moving to her face, she moved back as he pushed a little bit, they were close. She felt the usual flip she felt before he kissed her, then they were kissing, lips and tongues sliding against each other. Keith's hands fell to her waist and they both ended up on their knees on the couch kissing, pausing only for breath, until Keith suddenly pulled back and and jumped off the couch.

Allura licked her lips, she felt buzzy and light-headed, floaty. Warm and floaty and amazing, she would never get tired of that, she thought and she looked up at Keith. He was standing with his back almost to her, hand running through his hair, she thought about how her own hand had been running through it a second ago. "You have to go, don't you?" she asked.

"Have we talked everything out?"

"I think so, we are okay, right?" Allura asked, jumping up herself, and taking his hand.

Keith nodded. "We'll have more bumps, but we keep being honest and talking we'll be okay? Goodnight, Allura," he said kissing her chastely on the lips then he walked backwards for a bit before leaving the room.

Allura let out a dreamy little sigh and she felt more relaxed than she had felt in ages. It'd been a long week and an even longer day. She hurried to her nightstand and moved it aside to pull out her diary, and as she did the prophecy paper she had in there came out with it and one piece fell to the floor. She bent down to pick up her attempt to redraw something she'd seen briefly in the future and she froze.

She'd drawn Sven and Romelle, with Romelle looking ill up a narrow path on a mountain, with Drule soldiers and other slaves around them, and right behind them were her and Lance. Lance's uniform was ripped up his left leg, there was some sort of wound, he was leaning on Allura.

She'd scribbled on the bottom. Lance falls into the river, only I know where to look, the caves, Sven and Romelle, go to the waterfalls...

Allura dropped to her knees and pulled out the other papers, the other pictures she'd tried to draw from the same prophecy. The river, where it started to fan out to go towards three different waterfalls and then the one lone stream that went in different direction, towards the rocks and a mountain. Her drawing wasn't complete but it brought back the memory of the original fully, her heart was in her ears.

She hadn't tried to draw the last image, the fire place, the cave, the...

"No."

She shook her head. She pushed all the papers back into the hole, then her diary. Pushed her nightstand back into place. "No, no. No," she said to herself. She heard herself and Lance in her head. We'll make our own choices, we don't have to let the prophecies come true...

We'll make our own choices.

He's going to be hurt. Romelle is probably ill because of the baby, Allura thought. Before all that we are with the slaves, surrounded by Drules. Then Lance falls into the river from high up, he falls into the river and then is trapped in the cave.

"Where only I can find him?" Allura whispered to herself.

She ran to her door, she opened it and she hurried down the hall to the door that led to the catacombs and down the stairs and when she walked into her father's tomb. He was already manifested and waiting.


	32. Part 3 Complications Chapter 32

Part Three Complications

Thirty-Two

Allura.

"You know why I'm here," Allura said, she didn't ask and she wasn't accusing, she was comforted. She sat down on the steps that led up to his casket. Her back was to his spirit, but she felt him move closer to her, come up right behind her, it felt like he was right there, almost next her but not quite. Allura didn't want to look him in the eye.

_I do._

Allura swallowed. "What, what do I do?"

_You know the answer, Allura. It's in your heart, it's what you wanted the do the second you remembered the prophecy. Your first instinct is your answer._

She shook her head and she murmured. "No, no. We, we decided...but," she was crying again, but she didn't care this time, she didn't feel young or foolish about it this time.

_I am aware of your and Lance's decisions. The future remains._

Allura shook her head. "We haven't come up against anything we could change yet, this, I've not been ordered to go. I'm not supposed to be there. So, I decide, I put myself in the situation. I can put myself outside of it..."

_You can._

Allura nodded. "I could tell them, I could tell Sven and Romelle where to look...Romelle is pregnant." Allura stood up and walked down a few steps and started to pace. "She looks ill in the prophecy, I didn't do it the justice Altea did, the Seer. It's the baby, we look more caught then we should be... not we they, Sven, Lance and Romelle. They'll be fine. I could just tell Sven and Romelle where to look, just tell them to trust me on it...' Allura trailed off and sighed. "But the pictures, the pictures of the river, the waterfalls, the caves, it's all so tricky and my drawings don't do it any justice, none at all. Better than nothing but Altea's were so much more clear."

_Allura, daughter, breathe._

Allura took a breath in and then slowly blew it out. She looked up then at her father, he looked at her from the top of the steps with his warm blue eyes and a soft expression. She felt her heart aching for the ability to touch him to wrap her arms around him. "Keith won't let me go," she whispered.

_You will have to what you feel is best. You must trust yourself, Allura._

Allura shook her head. "We just made up, if I... my instinct is go with them, to get on board Red and go with them. But it is so complicated, Father. Keith won't let me go, and if I go without his permission, without even saying goodbye. The conversation we just finished, the moment we just had..."

_Choice. Allura you and Lance decided to make your own choices. Choice isn't always easy or clear. It isn't always clear cut. What weighs most on your heart in this situation. Keeping the peace with Keith, or going on this mission with your cousin, her lover and your future._

"Lance isn't my..." Allura trailed off as the image of Lance choking flew back into her mind, how scared she was of losing him only hours ago. How frightened and frozen she was at the idea he could cease to breath and be. How crazy the idea of him gone felt to her when he said he didn't want to leave Arus. Lance leaving wasn't possible, he was here, he belonged here.

_He is._

Allura forced herself again to look into her father's eyes. "I have so many questions for you, this isn't what I wanted to talk to you about when I came down here. Or how I wanted to come down here."

_Things happen in their own time. The Seer is right the Underground can wait for now. It will have its use and its time._

"So you know they are there, the Seers?"

_Yes. And the Sorcerers._

Allura felt solemn at the news, that she was right. "Father, the Underground?"

_I wanted to bring it into the light, Allura. All thought I was crazy, but I would have persisted nonetheless._

A weight lifted off of her, she needed to know that and now that she did she felt lighter. "Thank you," she whispered as her mind went back to why she had run down her, she hadn't succeeded in distracting herself for very long at all.

She had choice to make, a choice that would have ramifications for many people no matter what choice she made. Maybe they wouldn't be captured if she didn't go, maybe Lance wouldn't be wounded or fall into the river, if she wasn't there.

"Father?"

_The answer is no. Events will unfold the same with or without you. He will be hurt, he will fall. He will find his way to the cave._

Allura sighed, frustrated, she thought it unfair, she wasn't a small difference in the equation she was another whole person. She sat back down on the steps, and once again felt her father's spirit beside and over her, comforting as much as he was enigmatic.

If she went to ask Keith permission, he'd ask why and she'd have to say she couldn't tell him and he'd make that face. It'd be too soon, he'd try to not get upset but he would, there would be another fight. Yet if she didn't go to him to ask permission and she went anyway, he'd be upset, he'd be worried and they'd fight when she returned and all the goodwill they'd earned tonight.

They'd talked, they'd listened, they'd compromised. She's be risking all the goodwill, all the warmth, love and kissing. Bumps would be more than bumps if she did what she was thinking of doing.

But she couldn't stop thinking of doing it, it kept going on over and over in her head. She would be the only one who could save Lance, the only one who knew where he was and who could find him. She was the only one.

Allura didn't know how long she sat there, her head in her hands, as she tried to figure out what to do. Did she risk another fight with Keith, that would include Lance in the middle, because of the prophecy. Did she risk changing the prophecy all together, and not go and in the process risk Lance's life completely. If she did go, could she follow the prophecy enough to rescue Lance but not exactly to the letter. Would she be able to change it enough that she was still making her own choices and not letting the paper make her choice for her?

She was thinking so hard on what to do, she really didn't think the pictures and words Altea had drawn all those years ago, were really locking her into anything. Allura felt confused, and lost. She felt her father still but he'd vanished from sight hours ago, and she was tired but she couldn't leave until she made her decision. Stay home, or go?

Allura was floating on water and someone was on the shore and someone else was ahead of her in the water, floating over deeper depths. She felt a cold shiver, the person on the shore was yelling for her to swim to the shore, to come to shore now. The person floating ahead was laughing and smiling until a darkness came from below and pulled him under.

Swim to the shore, they yelled, but she swam under the water to rescue the other floater in the water, and she swam and swam but she couldn't find him, her lungs hurt from holding her breath for so long but she couldn't go to the surface without him, not without...

"Lance," Allura woke with a cry, her neck hurting a bit and she was cold from falling asleep on the steps that led to her father's tomb. She started to her feet, it felt early in the morning but she knew they were leaving early. If she was going with them, she had to get there early too.

First of all, however, Allura had to leave Keith a note.

~~.~~

"What did you just say?" Lara said, pushing at his chest and getting off of Lance. She looked between pissed off amused as she grabbed the pair of jeans she'd worn over to the Castle and pulled them back on, not bothering with underwear.

"Uh, weren't we in the middle of..." Lance motioned with his arms over his very naked and still very hard body.

"Not when you call me by the wrong name we aren't," Lara laughed but when she turned to look at him she looked angry. "Especially that name."

"What name?" Lance muttered sitting up in the bed and noticing the time, it was late, early, whatever you wanted to call it. He had to get up anyway, he'd thought it'd been great to wake up to go pee to find Lara still in his bed, since he hadn't expected her to be in his bed at all. Him almost choking seemed to bring something out in her that was a bit like, actually caring about him more than she'd ever admit to feeling.

"What name? Oh, my god, you really didn't notice what you called me? I figured you were just ignoring the mistake because...Sex." She shook her head. "What exactly where you thinking a few moments ago, there cowboy?"

Lance watched as she pulled on her top, his mind focused on her breasts until they disappeared and then he was thinking damn, she's not getting back in this bed. "Uh, I don't know, you were riding me, I was not thinking."

"You fantasizing then, or maybe really dreaming; because the name you said. Only in your dreams, no matter how close you are to her."

"Uh?"

".A."

Allura? He didn't, he couldn't have? Did he? No, because he'd come to the conclusion he didn't want her, not at all, she was his best friend, he loved her. He didn't lust, and he wasn't in love with her. And he'd proved it by celebrating his promotion and his platinum wings naked with a very willing Lara... "I said Lara. Lara, Allura, you misheard me..." he muttered, visions of long blonde hair over smaller breasts than Lara's and a tiny waist coming unwanted and unfiltered into his head and his realized they weren't a new vision at all and he'd been half asleep when he and Lara started and crap.

None of the dreams he'd about Allura during the night meant a damn thing, none of the dreams he'd had about being King of Arus meant a damn thing either. None of the dreams he had last night had been of any consequence at all. He stood up and walked to his closet, he had to pack some things just in case he ended up on the moon with Sven and Romelle longer than the expected few minutes.

"Taking back the you misheard me?" Lara said, laughing. "I knew you had to be hot for her."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Why the hell would you think that."

"Oh you call me by her name twice in one night, maybe."

"What the hell do you mean twice?" Lance snapped, looking at the very beautiful red head in his room, the very beautiful smart woman in his room who he really did like a lot and was the more obvious choice for him.

"I let the first one slide, I mean you and Allura, it's intense sometimes and... I figure you're hot for and now I know. But twice, hard on a woman's ego."

"I..." he trailed off, he had no clue exactly how to apologize for this, he somehow had always had the uncanny knack to date multiple women and never get a name wrong. Ever. Less than twelve hours with the ridiculous thought he might love Allura and it he's done it twice. To Lara, who was just showing signs of cracking in his attempt to get her to only date him, he wanted to shoot himself. "I..." he trailed off again.

Lara grabbed his face and kissed him quickly, then she grabbed her garment bag that had her ball gown in it, and her coat that were in the closet behind and smiled. "I'll see you around, Lance. I'm glad you Earthlings have that Heinie thing and you're okay." Her voice went soft for a second, then she shook her head, kissed him one more time and was gone because he could try to stutter out some form of an apology.

He stood where he was standing, still naked, for a full five minutes. The time it took for his alarm clock to tick to five in the morning and the alarm to go off and make him startle. Startle out of the the thoughts he kept having about Allura, because he went from thinking how the hell had I really called Lara, Allura to thinking only about Allura in less than a second. He slapped himself, then crossed the room and slapped the alarm shut.

He had two days of flying away from the Castle, away from Allura and her eyes, her voice, her laugh. This was good. He could firmly talk himself out of his insanity. He also could figure out a way to come to terms with the fact that when they won the war that he would have to leave Arus, didn't matter if the thought felt like giving up a piece of himself. He had to face the fact now that he'd realized it was something he'd have trouble with. Better now than then, he had time to deal with it now. Unfortunately.

He grabbed clothes, he took a quick shower and he packed a small bag just in case he ended up on the moon longer. Always be ready for emergency, he checked his blaster, he decided to bring a few knives and then he made his way out to the control room, to get into his uniform, get to Red and do a system check on her before Sven and Romelle arrived.

Five minutes later his helmet was under his seat in Red Lion, he'd set up the chute to bring the next few travelers to Red Lion, so Sven and Romelle wouldn't have any issues, if they arrived together or apart. He let his mind clear out as he went through the systems of Red Lion, making sure she was good shape for the jaunt. She was being used because she wouldn't burn going through fire of any level of heat, heat powered her, the hotter it was the more power she would dish back out. It was elemental magic, according to Coran and Lance didn't understand it but he knew it made Red purr, and that her purr could calm his nerves like nothing else. If anything flying her today, while Sven and Romelle were in their own little world together behind him would be a great reprieve.

He heard movement and looked over, expecting to see Sven, or Romelle appearing in the cockpit and instead from himself facing Allura. She stared back at him wide eyed, looking caught and he stared back at her and he knew, he just knew.

No reprieve.

They still hadn't said a word when Sven and Romelle came up behind and her, and stopped short and they both said confused. "Allura?"

"Hi," Allura said, superficially bright. "Um, I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not," Lance and Sven said in unison.

Allura stood straight and shook her head left and right at Lance, cocked her head to the back of the lion. Lance sighed, got up out of his chair and walked to the back of the lion. Allura was there in front of him less than a second later, they both looked over at Sven and Romelle. The two of them were looking at them with big eyes, Sven looked unsettled.

"Allura, are you crazy, there is no way Keith signed off on this and you two just patched a lot of crap up last night," Lance started with, praying that would get through to her. Hoping that whatever reason had brought her into the lion was one he could talk her out of.

"I know, I know, I left him a note but it's all I could do, I..." she glanced over at Sven and Romelle sighing she put her hands his shoulders and he watched her grow taller as she went up on her toes. Then her soft skin, was scrapping against the scruff on his face and he had to fight not to close his eyes or grab her waist. "It's a prophecy, I have to be with you."

Lance shook his head, caved to the urge, his hands went to her waist and he moved his head so he could whisper into her other ear. He smelled her hair, vanilla-lavender, and he forced himself not inhale more deeply a second time. "No you don't. We said we'd ignore those, right? Make our own choices."

"I can't ignore this one, Lance. I can't, I just can't..." Allura whispered and she was shaking now, she sounded terrified, more afraid than he'd seen her since they went to the future. Even more scared than she sounded last night at almost killing him by accident.

"Hey, hey, don't shake," he whispered, a hand leaving her waist and rubbing up and down her back. "What is it, why can't you ignore it?"

"Its..." she trailed offed. "It's Romelle."

"Romelle?"

"She's pregnant, she made me promise not to tell Sven. She...she... she looks ill in the pictures I remember, really ill and...we're caught, the four of us, more caught than Sven's plan allowed for, we aren't even supposed to touch ground right? I can't risk, Romelle. I can't, she's all the family I have no matter how distant."

Lance listened and he heard something that wasn't there, she wasn't sharing everything with him. "What aren't you telling me?" he asked, pulling back to look in her eyes.

"Too much, but please trust me?" she whispered, still shaking her hands now digging into his upper arms, and her eyes showing fear but steel resolve as well.

"Always," he whispered back. He turned toward Sven and Romelle, letting go of her and ignoring that it felt weird not be touching her. "So, yeah, Allura is coming with us."

"No, Lance. She isn't. It isn't part of the plan, and Keith."

"Sven she's coming," Lance said. "She has very good reasons why she is coming and I'm trusting her instincts." With that he started Red Lion, closed her eyes as the lion roared life and pulled her out of the volcano and into space before Sven could think to try to contact the Castle.

"I don't like this," Sven said to Lance, leaning behind him, glancing at Romelle and Allura who were talking behind them in the back.

Lance didn't either but he also did trust Allura instincts, if she felt she couldn't ignore whatever prophecy she knew about in regards to this mission. It had to be true Romelle was pregnant, and he knew Allura was leaving something out about him, and probably about him and her. But he trusted her. "I don't either, but I can't worry about her relationship with Keith. I have to worry about the mission and her reasons for being here about your mission Sven. Having her with us might keep us alive."

"How do you know that?"

"I know."

Sven stayed quiet for long time, Lance was almost able to forget his friend was behind him, thinking through the situation and what he wanted to say about it. Lance almost was in the zone where it was just him and Red Lion's purr when Sven spoke again. "Keith is right, there is a missing piece of your friendship with Allura. What is it?"

Lance laughed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me my friend?"

Lance shook his head but he sighed, searched his own mind for words that were the truth and not at all what really happened. "Allura and I, we just..." he trailed off, he didn't know the answer. They understood each other, it wasn't just about the trip to the future, nothing the discussed there discounting prophecies, which existed here as well as there, really was any different from what could've happened in the present. They could talk, they laughed, they listened.

"You just..."

"Sven the missing piece of the puzzle is there is no missing piece. You and Keith just don't get that a woman like Allura, would like talking to me," Lance finally spat out. Half the time he didn't get why Allura liked spending time with him. He wasn't noble like his two friends, he wasn't tactful, and he wasn't nearly as selfless. If he was, the minute the he saw Keith was getting upset by the friendship he would've backed off a bit but instead he kept rubbing it right in Keith's face because he didn't want to give up any time he could have with Allura, himself.

Sven made a noise. "That is not it at all," he muttered.

"Sure, whatever." Lance said.

"Is everything okay up there," Allura called out from the back of the Lion.

"Just fine," Lance said.

Sven on the other hand turned and looked right at Allura. "I was telling Lance, I agree with Keith. There is a missing piece to explaining your friendship with Lance. What is it?"

Lance sighed but he knew Allura could handle the question.

"Sven!" Romelle said sounding upset. "Why would ask such a thing?"


	33. Chapter 33

**_Thank you for the comment Craze - I will spill, Keith finds out before Coran, because it really gives away nothing to tell that little gem :-) And I have future plans for Keith but yep it's all complicated from here on out... Raelee514_**

Thirty-four

Allura had been leaning against the wall of the lion's cockpit, along with Romelle. Romelle had stood straight up immediately after Sven had turned around, his face a mixture of confusion and anger. He was not happy that Lance had allowed her to come on the mission, not at all. Allura steeled her spine as she stood straight up.

"Romelle, it's okay. What do you mean missing piece?"

"I mean your friendship, it both look and feels to the outside eye to be much deeper than it possibly could be given what I know about you, Lance and time involved in the possibility of it forming. Keith feels it too, I thought at first he was being unfair. After last night, and now this morning, I have to admit he is right. There is a missing piece, something the two of you haven't told anyone perhaps, or..."

"Sven, I don't like what you're accusing her of," Romelle said.

Lance chuckled from upfront at the controls. "He's grasping."

Allura stayed silent for a moment longer, her mind spinning as she realized what it was Sven was saying. He was accusing them of lying about the truth of how their friendship began, which was true it was so very true, but they could never come clean about it. It had to be their secret forever, because it was impossible to explain and no one would ever believe them. Or, or he was accusing them of something more than friendship. The drawing from the future flashed in her memory, her and Lance kissing in the cave, the way their hands were on each other, the way her body was bent into him. Then she remembered the other one she'd found, the one in the garden, at their bench the one she'd known was all was passion but had run to him anyway hoping he would say it wasn't. They weren't true, she wasn't going to make the choice to make them true.

Going with them on this mission wasn't choosing the kiss by the fire. She still wanted to be with Keith.

"Sven," Allura said. "I don't know what you and Keith don't understand. Both of you have chosen Lance for a best friend, as well as I have. What is so hard to understand that I would as well. That I find his sense of humor something that helps lessen the burdens I carry on my shoulders. Everyday I have to balance both the duties of a Princess and the duties of the Voltron Force. Everyday I have to listen Nanny's passive agressive remarks that I am not behaving properly. Everyday I have to listen to Coran tell me I am too young to understand and have so much more to learn, when he doesn't allow to me take on more things about ruling my own planet. Yet, how am I supposed to learn. Keith helps as well, but he agrees with Coran more than he doesn't. Lance just listens. Keith still sees me as a Princess at times, I'm hoping soon he'll stop, he is getting better. But Lance sees me as Allura, he always has. Why shouldn't I want a friend who can forget the title?"

Sven expression changed, he looked chagrinned and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I apologize, Princess. I however, still much object to you being on this mission, there is still time for us to turn around."

"Impossible," Allura said and under her feet she felt Red's purr grow louder as Lance sped up in response to Sven's words, putting more distance than Sven would realize he had between them and Arus. She smiled, knowing Sven couldn't feel Red, she wondered how he didn't notice, since he could feel Blue. Maybe it was because he hadn't flown Blue in so long she reasoned.

"Why must you be here then, I would like a reason to understand it?" Sven said.

Allura sighed. "I can't tell you my reasons, Sven. But they are important, I never would have risked everything I just patched up with Keith otherwise, can you just trust that?"

Sven sighed, said something Norwegian under his breathe and shook his head. "I won't win this will, will I?"

"No," Lance and Allura said in unison.

Sven turned to Lance. "She did tell you something did she not?"

"She told me half of it," Lance said.

Sven shot a look between the two of them, Allura couldn't begin to imagine what he must be thinking about them but she couldn't worry about it. She could only hope he never spoke his thoughts about them being more than friends aloud to Keith. It would only make everything worse.

"You're fine, with not knowing the other half?"

"No. But, I trust Allura and she isn't telling me, she has a reason."

Sven shook his head, then he threw up his arms. He then walked over to lean against the back wall of the cockpit next to Romelle. Allura felt relief, the conversation was over, she smiled at Sven. "Thank you," she said. He nodded back at her but he still looked wary.

Lance turned and looked at her, she gave him a small smile in return. She felt guilty, she was worried about Keith's reaction. She walked over to Lance and was going to stand behind him, but he moved a bit making room for to sit on the command chair with him. She sat down, it wasn't exactly comfortable, since the seat wasn't meant for two, but they made it work with a few more shifts and moves; making sure Lance could keep his feet and hands on all levers and pedals.

"I'm worried about Keith," she said.

Lance chuckled and nudged her with his should, before he turned to look her in the eye. "Really? Then why are you here?"

Allura sighed, she could tell that though he was trusting her, he wasn't exactly thrilled with her for being here. What she wasn't sure about was why? Was it that she wasn't avoiding the prophecy all together, or was it something else? He seemed off still, still in the mood he'd been in the night before but there was something else there too, in his eyes. "I told you, I have to do this, I can't ignore..."

"This isn't about Romelle," he said, making sure his voice was barely audible. "So, don't give me that shit."

Allura narrowed her eyes at him. "You know you swear to much when your when your foul mood."

Lance just rolled his eyes.

"It is partly about Romelle, I'm not ignoring her part in the prophecy, she and Sven are in it after all. It's..."

"Us, Allura and we were supposed to avoid those, at all costs, right? Because you want Keith."

"Of course I want Keith," Allura said, reflexively. "But..."

"What?"

She stared at him, looked into his hazel eyes, they were darker than normal, a dark battle green-brown. Her hand rose up and touched his cheek, he was unshaven still from last night, red-brown scruff surprisingly soft against her palm, the warmth of his cheek underneath. "You," she whispered.

~~.~~

Keith walked into his office dreading the paperwork he had to do that had piled up in the past couple of days with the Garrison on Arus. He sat down and grabbed the first sheet of paper that laid in his inbox. Looked down at it and blinked at it in surprise. It was handwritten, his index and thumb pressed the paper between them, it was stationary and he blinked a few more times. It was Allura's stationary and handwriting. "Huh," he said, smiling, thinking maybe it was a love letter. It'd be like her, to be idealistic, romantic, and he had to admit he kind of liked the idea. Smiling he leaned back in his chair, and brought the letter up to read, thinking he'd go slow, savor every word.

_Keith, my Hero._

_Please understand, that I wouldn't have gone with them if it wasn't important._

His happy, romantic mood vanished. "What?" he said to the letter, then quickly read the rest.

_I cannot explain to why but I have to be on the moon with Lance, Sven, and Romelle. I can't tell you why, it's just something I know, I feel it in the place deep inside where my intuition comes from and you know I can't deny it, Keith. Would you ever deny something you feel in your bones?_

_I meant every word I said last night, I am sorry this happens so soon after our conversation, I do hope you will forgive me._

_Always, Allura._

Keith crumbled the note in his fist, then he threw it down, jumped to his feet and ran to the control room, Pidge was sitting at the controls and he let out a yelp when Keith bodily removed him from the chair and sat down. He jabbed the buttons instead of pressing them and instead of following proper protocol what he said when it came time to talk, he yelled.

"Bring her the fuck back here now, Lance that's a fucking order."

Silence. Keith growled, he checked that he had indeed connected with Red Lion and he had, he had a communications link with them. "Lance, I know you can fucking hear me."

"Uh, Captain?" Pidge asked behind him. "What's going on?"

"Allura's with them."

"That wasn't part of the plan," Pidge said, then seemed to realize the stupid obviousness of the statement. "Maybe, I should try to contact them..."

"Keith, I'm not turning around, we're too far out."

"I checked when you left, Lance, you're still close enough to turn around and go back out."

"No, Captain, we're not," Lance said.

"Lance we really are," Sven said in the background.

"Sorry, Sven but Lance is right," Allura's voice said. "Keith, I'm sorry but I have to do this."

Keith gritted his teeth. "Why are you doing this, Allura?"

"I told you, I have too."

"Have too isn't why?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me, and I can't prove it, it's an intuition Keith. I know you understand gut instinct."

"Lance you can't be to far out, turn around. Allura we'll discuss it when you get back."

"Keith look at where I am," Lance said and on the main screen came the live shot of Red Lion's location in the space. The Lion was more than halfway toward the midpoint of it's trip to the moon Sven and Romelle needed it to get onto.

Keith swore, and he heard Sven swearing in the cockpit. "How fast have you been flying," they shouted in unison.

"Fast enough, to make it impossible for you two to win this fight. Allura's staying where she is."

Keith jabbed more buttons and the main screen flickered and then there they were, Lance and Allura, both sitting in the command chair. He'd expected Lance to look smug and Allura to look contrite. What he saw instead was Lance looking wary and uncomfortable, with his eyes on Allura, mouthing. "You can change your choice, Allura, I can fly her faster. Fast enough to get back," Lance whispered, soft enough it wouldn't have come through the microphone, or be picked up by Sven or Romelle. But Keith could read his lips.

Allura was looking right at Lance as well, neither one of them knew they were being watched. She looked resolved and unmovable, her hand reached out and touched Lance's face. "No. I told you. You...I can't, not even for Keith."

Lance's eyes closed and Keith went numb because he didn't know what the hell the he was watching, it looked intimate, they were talking in some code that made no sense. Their words had double meanings, and he definitely didn't like Lance's reaction to his girlfriend. Not at all, and what the hell did she mean by her last words?

Keith cleared his throat as loudly as he could. Lance and Allura startled and turned toward the screen where his face would be showing up for them to see. Lance's eyes immediately just left of direct eye contact, Keith didn't like it Lance refused to followed orders in your face. Allura turned almost as pink as the pink in her uniform and the contriteness he'd expected she immediately leaned forward.

"Keith, I'm sorry, I am. I rather be there with you, I mean that. I do. But I have to be here, I just have to be," she said, her eyes wide, tears forming and her voice completely sincere. She bit her lower lip and turned away and Keith knew it was so she wouldn't start crying and he felt it then. She was sincere in this, she really felt she had to be with them and that she had to do it behind his back because there was no other way. She was right. He closed his eyes.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay!" Sven and Pidge said, both shocked.

Lance was now looking right at him again, his face unreadable and Keith looked at him back. Lance then nodded. "Growth, Keith, last night must've been a hell of a talk," he said.

Keith heard it, the attempt to sound teasing, to sound like he was saying something went on that couldn't have between Keith and Allura. Allura looked relieved, if not a little shocked, but she also then looked at Lance oddly and Keith realized she heard it too. Lance was faking it.

Keith really wanted to be wrong about what he was thinking but he didn't think he was, but he couldn't deal with it now, or even think about it now. He could only do one more thing. "All of you, take care of each other. Lance?"

"Yes, sir, Captain?"

"Don't." Keith said, putting ever ounce of meaning into that one word he could.

Lance flinched but he didn't respond to it at all otherwise. "Signing off," he said, instead and the screen went blank.

Pidge behind him looked at Keith. "Don't what?"

"I need to go work out, will you please tell Coran that Allura has gone on the mission with Lance," Keith said and walked away, not even thinking about what he'd just put on Pidge's shoulders, because he had a lot more on his own.

~~.~~

_Don't._

Keith had to be so damn perceptive. Did he really think Lance liked feeling like he was falling for Allura? He didn't want to mess of up the status quo, he liked how it was going, he selfish about hanging on to it even. It worked. He didn't want to fall in love her, it came with way to much baggage for one thing. For one thing, he didn't want a wedge between him and Keith. He wanted his best friend to remain his friend and ally. They were off on a planet, relatively alone fighting a really hard war. Future post it notes aside, Lance had a hard time buying they could get over something like Lance ending up with Allura.

Then there was the whole marriage and babies, and being a King thing. Though he'd stay on Arus, which was what he wanted. To live there, die there. He closed his eyes to try to get lost in Red Lion's vibrations, her purr, her voice.

_Allura is the way to your peace._ Red Lion whispered to him.

Well, that wasn't helpful Lance thought, shaking his head and for the first time frowning at his lion. What he felt then was Red chuckling, he thought, he couldn't be sure but it felt new. Allura shifted next to him and gave him a look.

"What was that, is she laughing?" Allura asked.

Leave it to Allura to notice too.

"She laughs at her own jokes," Lance lied.

Allura didn't believe him, he saw the raised eyebrow. "What did he mean?"

"She," Lance said, pretending she was talking about Red.

"No, Keith," Allura said her impatience showing, as she said it like he was stupid.

He laughed, he couldn't help it, Allura was fun when she was impatient. All catty and frankly adorable. Allura punched him, her right hand coming up and hitting his left arm since their left and right arms were squeezed next eachother on the chair. "Stop it, you nerfherder," she spat out.

"Nerfherder?" he repeated, chuckling and he even heard Sven laughing behind them at that one.

Allura turned to face Sven, her finger pointing. "Don't start with me Holgersson, I have ammo on you I can tell Romelle!"

Sven went quiet.

Lance kept laughing.

"I"d threaten you but you wouldn't care what I told Lara," she said and then she sighed and when quiet again. "Lance?"

Lance sighed, she wasn't going to let up. "What he meant is something you don't want to know, Allura. Trust me on this," he said, looking at her. Into her beautiful face, which was looking back at him all full of empathy.

She stared back at him, the empathy only growing as she stared, her eys narrowing, he could almost hear her thinking, reading him better than anyone ever had in his life. He wished she hadn't figure out how, that he hadn't let her figure out how, but he hadn't planned on it. It'd happened without thought, or without him seeing it.

He isn't even sure it'd happened in the future, it might have happened when they got back home to the present.

"It made you sadder and you were sad enough," she whispered.

He closed his eyes. "I'm okay."

"No."

"I will be," he said and he looked at her again and smiled. "Promise."

Then she grew sad and she looked away from him for a moment before she looked back, her eyes blazing and her chin up. "Me too," she said.

~~.~~

"She loves Keith," Romelle said back to Sven, snuggling into his arms more.

Sven tightened his hold on Romelle, pulling her more close. He always felt more clingy, possessive before they walked into a mission to free slaves like this together. Especially one with so many unknown factors like this one. This moon, could answer a lot of unanswered questions about disappearing slaves from Doom and other slave planets of Zarkon's. Getting the intelligence on it had been a huge boon, and Sven hoped that everything went as planned, went smoothly and that Lance and Allura were just their ride.

Only he felt a storm cloud now over it all with Allura here, claiming she needed to be for reasons she couldn't say. That spelled out that the elephant in the room was her instincts had told her that someone was going to go wrong. Sven trusted Allura's instincts, to a point, what was giving him pause was Keith wasn't here and this wasn't about Voltron or Arus.

But he kept watching her with Lance, he'd seen it for a moment last night but had written it off because she'd caused the choking. It could be written off as fear of killing her friend, the intensity that went both ways between them. Yet, it was there now, even when they were teasing each other. Especially, when they were teasing each other because if Sven was honest he'd never seen the Princess laugh so much. Sven knew Keith had a wicked sense of humor, it was quiet and witty, the Princess's was quick and intelligence enough to get the jokes. He'd seen her crack up at them, a smile play on her face and then laughter splutter out. It was different with Lance. In the last few hours they'd gone from moments of such intense raw intimacy that he'd wished he and Romelle could go elsewhere in the lion. He felt intrusive. Yet they'd go from that to one of them raising a brow, or shifting a muscle to busting out laughing in unison at something that only they understood. The few words he'd been able to pick up from their intense conversations, had been odd, it was a code for outsiders to wonder at and spoke to the missing puzzle pieces that no outsider was ever going to understand about their relationship. They were never going to share the secret.

"I know, she is with Keith. I've seen the longing, yearning looks she's thrown Keith over the past couple of years. But Romelle, watching them," he indicated Lance and Allura. "Don't you feel..."

Romelle sighed. "It's intense, I admit. I don't know what is going on in her head, really. She's grown up a lot Sven since we've last seen her. If anything maybe that is why she's able to relate to Lance now?"

It was a good point, he'd often though Lance was too much for Allura to handle with his lack of tact, he was the most overtly sexual out of all of them, and never treated her with the respect her title indicated he should. He treated her with respect that fellow teammate deserved, which was a different thing... Something Allura liked, preferred from her speech earlier.

"Maybe," Sven didn't know. "Somethings going to go wrong."

Romelle startled. "What do you mean?"

"Allura's reasons for being here, what she'll say anyway. It means something is going to go wrong on this mission. Our plan isn't going to smoothly. I don't know if I should re-strategize now, or wait and see what will go wrong."

"Sven, nothing might go wrong, maybe..." Romelle trailed off. "You're right, she wouldn't be here if her intuition was clanging a warning bell."

Sven nodded, watching as Allura leaned her head on Lance's shoulder. "My feeling is it's about Lance."

Romelle looked over and she shook her head. "She's always been all about Keith," she said but it wasn't argument.

"He's in love with her, Romelle."

"Lance?" Romelle said, her surprise making it too loud.

"Uh, yeah, Romelle?"

Pressing her lips together to late for doing what she did, Romelle came up with a quick lie. "Uh, how much longer?"

Lance looking back, gave them both a weird look but he didn't skip a beat in answering. "Three hours, I could make it shorter if you want?"

"No, I want to arrive on schedule," Sven said. "You did put us back on the correct schedule, right?"

"Yes, Sven," Lance said. "Red's been complaining about the slow speed for the last few hours, haven't you felt it?"

Sven shook his head and he frowned, he thought something felt wrong in the lion, a bit too empty. Blue had felt alive, he hoped it wouldn't be the same if he were ever to step foot in Blue Lion again.

Lance's eyebrows arched and he nodded. "Uh, didn't know it'd go that deep..." he muttered more to himself than to Sven.

Sven wanted to chase that sentence down too but he decided to let it go, he turned toward Romelle, to finish their conversation. "Yes. He's in love with her."

Romelle still looked surprised. "Are you sure, I thought you said, Lance would never fall in love."

"No, I always said Lance said he would never fall in love. Keith and I never bought it. We always thought when he did, it'd be hard...and if..." he looked over. "He's fallen for Allura. It's bad, my love. Bad."

"He was with that woman, Lara. She was telling me how he wants them to fall in love and get married, she can't get him to back off," Romelle said.

"I saw, I heard. I don't know what is going on, Romelle. I just know what I am seeing today. I thought I was imagining it last night, I was wrong."

"I hope your wrong. Allura's been dreaming about Keith since the day they met."

"Keith and Lance, too, they're like brothers, the most out of all of us. Lance doesn't have many calls family, neither does Keith..." Sven sighed and then he sighed again. "I need to go over the plan, I need to keep my mind busy. Lance? Could you have Allura take over, I want to go over the plan?"

"Sometimes, I think he and Keith, were separated at birth," Lance said to Allura as he stood up.

Allura took over the controls with a smile and shook her head. "Which one was supposed to be in Norway or Japan?"

"Oh, Keith should so have the accent too, don't you think?" Lance said over his shoulder.

Allura giggled. "Maybe..." she said with a little blush.

"Yep, all women, hot for the accent, I knew it," Lance laughed, as he landed in front of Sven.

Sven shook his head but he smiled, it was hard not to around Lance, even when Lance was faking the merriment. Sven figured Romelle was the only one who couldn't tell the difference between sincere happy Lance and faking it Lance. The fact he was faking it proved to Sven he had reason to worry about Lance's feeling for Allura, though looking right into his friends face he couldn't help but wonder if there was more going on than simple unrequited love.


	34. Chapter 34

**Author note:** Lance4Ever Thank you for the Idea that started the chapter :-)

Thirty-four

Allura closed her eyes the minute her hands took over the controls of Red Lion, it felt like Red was saying hello even though they'd been connected all along this was them fulling meeting for the day. Face to face, while before had been through a communications screen, close but not quite personal enough. She gave her on hello to the lion, felt her purr, then felt the full complaint about the slow speed they were going in order to make the trip on schedule. Lance had flown them so far ahead earlier, they'd had to slow down considerably to meet the schedule's parameters. It was a loud complaining roar that despite being her in head, felt like it was in her ears and it said. "Speed, want to run fast on my field of stars, Princess Allura."

Allura apologized and she heard the lion growl, but she didn't ask again but her distaste for going so slowly could be felt in every now again in a slight turbulence Allura was sure only she and Lance could feel. Allura kept up the boring speed, it was too slow for her as well, she'd learned a long time ago she liked speed. Not nearly as much as Lance, but it gave her a sense of flight, freedom that she could get nowhere else.

_Weight on your shoulders._

Allura jolted, the request for speed had be a feeling, a knowing of a sentence without the sentence being voiced, not really. That, that had been Red's voice, a whisper across her ears, in a wise feminine smoky voice. Allura felt herself nod in response to the statement, because it wasn't a question. It was true.

_Lance lessens the load._

Allura nodded, he did a lot, with the way he listened, the way he believed in her. "Keith too," she whispered aloud.

_Not as much, as you really wish._

Allura shifted in the seat, she didn't want to respond to that, she didn't know how, she wanted to argue, but a part of her was telling her she couldn't not really. Otherwise she would have told Keith about the Underground, because she wouldn't have to had worried about his reaction going against her current wishes to deal with it on her own. She frowned. It was okay to disagree.

_Of course, fun too. You'll see._

Allura was confused by that one, Red just chuckled in her head and Allura heard Lance yell over to her. "Hey, why is she laughing this time?"

"I really don't know," Allura said. "She's cryptic."

"I know, just like your father."

Allura laughed.

"What are you two talking about now."

"Red, laughing at her own jokes," they said in unison, Allura holding Lance's gaze across the cockpit, where he stood discussing the plan with Sven and Romelle. They both bust out laughing.

Sven looked at them both, his face looking wistful and confused. "Oh, I see."

"She talks?" Romelle said.

"They all do, I think," Sven said, a bit of sadness in his voice but then he looked at Romelle and Allura saw his face light up with love and happiness. It wasn't something he missed but didn't regret, giving up being the pilot of Blue Lion. Good, she thought, Blue was hers.

_Yes. You are hers._

Allura smiled feeling a possessive wave for her lion, she checked a couple of the console screens, and then went back to flying slowly, resisting her own urge to up the speed a bit.

_I am relieved you chose Lance._

Allura tensed, she sat up straighter in the chair. She shook her head at what Red had said, it made it sound like something else and that wasn't what she had done. "I can't let him die, they wouldn't know where to look and I can't tell them, I barely know. I just have a clue and pictures in my head from a much better artist than myself."

Red was silent for a long moment, Allura spent that moment holding her breath and she didn't know why. She held onto the controls with to firm a grip, her knuckles went white as well. Then Red spoke her voice lower than ever, a whisper in Allura's mind.

_When the truth is awakened, you won't be able to ignore it. Also, Check the long range proximity scanners._

Allure barely had time to respond to the first statement when the second made her tense in a different way and she checked the long range scanners. There was a blip, but one she really couldn't make out, she tried again but she wasn't Red's pilot. All she knew it was ahead of them, similar flight plan but she couldn't make out what it was.

"Lance, come here," she called out.

Seconds later he was leaning over her behind, smelling of leather even though he wasn't wearing any and smoke; he was the only one of them who smelled of something akin to his lion she realized as he stretched long arms and hit buttons on the long range proximity scanner to pull up what was was ahead of them, going in the same direction.

When the image came up on the screen, Allura felt her blood go cold and Lance colorfully swore even more than she'd heard him do in the past couple days with his bad mood. Sven came running over, as well as Romelle. Allura wanted to deny what she was seeing, but she couldn't.

It was Lotor's flagship.

~~.~~

"Out," Lance ordered, Allura moved out of the seat, and he sat down. Pressing buttons, trying to see if he could pick up any communications from Lotor's ship without them knowing he was eavesdropping. He also pulled back Red and slowed down even more, keeping the Lion just outside of Drule's long range scanning range. The lions had better range, thankfully, he thought.

After not getting any communications, nothing, he sent Sven a look and Sven already grim expression got more grim. "It does make sense," he said, his accent thicker, from worry. "This is an operation Doom's kept quiet for decades of their dominion, I have to say I wasn't expecting Lotor to be around."

"Wouldn't be the place I'd imagine him at either."

Lance looked over toward Allura, who he found looking at Romelle, who looked pale. Allura was holding her hand, and Romelle had a hand on her stomach. Lance clenched his jaw, he didn't like this at all. He glanced back at Allura, she looked shocked, concerned for Romelle, and worried overall. She hadn't know Lotor would be a factor, anymore than he, Sven or Romelle.

"What do you want to do, Sven. This your mission."

Sven rubbed the back of his neck, he looked at Romelle. Lance watched him take in her pale pallor for the first time, then Sven's arms were around the Polluxian Princess and they were in the back of cockpit talking quietly, foreheads together.

Allura came up to him, sitting back down on the edge of the command chair, with him. "They'll decide to still go in," she said, her hand going to her utility belt, popping open a compartment and pulling out a folded piece of Prophecy paper. She stared at it, like she was looking for something, some sign of Lotor, Lance thought. Allura sighed, then flipped it over, where he saw she had been scribbling words in script that was unrecognizable as her own. A pen appeared in her hand, her hand hovered over the page and she scribbled a word or two, stopped, biting at the end of the pen.

"Maybe you're trying to hard?" he said.

Allura shook her head. "I remember to much."

Lance checked the communications scanners again, Lotor and his people were still flying radio silent. He sighed, stroked the steering controls and under his breath muttered an apology for flying even more slowly than before.

"There is nothing about Lotor, nothing," Allura admitted, flipping the paper over. "Of course, this is the only picture I brought with me..." she sighed.

"Can I see it, maybe..."

"No!" Allura shouted, she flipped it and started folding it up immediately. "There is nothing to see.'

Lance eyed her. "You know it's going to happen to me too, I might be able to help stop it if you tell me?"

"Allura, are you okay?" Romelle yelled from the back at the same time.

Allura reached out, and gripped the steering controls right under Lance's hand for a second, her eyes closing. "I'm fine Romelle," she said then, eyes opening and looking toward the back. "And stupid," she laughed, nervously as she looked at Lance with big eyes that rolled when he made eye contact with her. She handed him the paper.

Lance took it in both his hands and unfolded it, the words coming up at him, he glanced at them quickly, thankful to see they said Princess of Blue and Lance of Red. Nothing about him being King, always good to see, he thought. He flipped the paper over to look at the picture and frowned. There were ships in the sky, far away, his instincts told him making it out of the atmosphere. Sven and Romelle were nowhere to be scene, a Drule was on the ground, dead it looked like and he was over a ledge, and far below him; way to far below him was a river. He looked like he was slipping, Allura was flat on her stomach, hands around his wrists but it looked she was slipping too.

"I drop you," she whispered, sounding both guilty and ashamed. "I"m sorry."

He looked up and stared at her, into her eyes, his heart pounded and he quickly chastised himself - not in love - he reached out and took her chin in his hand. "Don't be sorry, how the hell could you pull me up on your own, I have nothing to grip on to here, you kept hanging I'd pull you with me."

Allura shook her head. "I still feel awful. Read the back."

He let go of her face, flipped the paper over and started to try to read the writing. Allura's usual precise script was now a scrawl, Lance guessed it was do to the emotion she felt over these prophecies. She not only felt they were important to the true Religion of her people, one that seemed to be lost to her people since Zarkon's tyranny but they reminded her of her father, of his own belief in them. Add to the fact this one was about herself, about him and how she found out about its existence. For some reason this one prophecy had gotten under her skin enough she'd tried to recreate it in the present.

He had feeling, however that she'd forgotten about it, when Sven and Romelle arrived, when they were all discussing everything. The fight with Keith and how to calm things down and make things happy between them more on the forefront of her. It was all in how she'd shown up this morning, how she was scared, terrified, like she'd remembered a nightmare she had as a child and it was just as frightening as it was then.

Lance frowned as he read, not at all liking it.

_All four of us are with the slaves. From the pictures, Romelle looks ill. Lance's leg is hurt. I don't know how. We attempt an escape at some point. Lance falls into the river, I try to save him but I can't hold on, I let go and he falls. I won't stop looking, I will almost get caught by Drules still on the moon (moon, I know it's a moon now, I also think that at this point, we've managed to get Slaves off the planet, doing at least a part of what Sven and Romelle set out to do). I refuse to leave, I wont' leave Lance, not when he's in a cave, too deep in. He falls through the floor of one cave into another. I know I find him, we'll be together...after that. I can only hope Sven finds us. He and Romelle will realize the waterfalls are a dead end. They'll find us in the caves. Only I know to look at the caves. The prophecy said I knew to look in the caves..._

_It said: She chooses to go to the cave, while the others check the waterfalls._

"Okay, well, it sounds like we at least save some slaves."

"That's just me hoping," Allura said. "Because of the ships in the air, and the dead Drule."

Lance nodded. "I trust your instincts, Allura. If anyone can interpret one of these crazy things it's you, okay."

Allura nodded, but she was biting her bottom lip, something she only did when she was highly nervous. "Stop it, Allura," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and finding a huge knot. He started to massage, "I'll be fine, so will you. It'll be okay, Keith will forgive you before you get home too."

Allura eyed him, the look on her face showing how skeptical she felt.

"Really, the minute they know we're in danger, he'll forgive us both, then he'll be happy to see us. Especially you, no brainer. He'll sputter a bit later for five minutes. You'll calm him down fast."

She smiled then and Lance tried not to feel like he'd stabbed himself in the heart by giving her a pep talk about Keith. Then he reminded himself he wasn't in love with her, again. He moved his hand, rubbed his own face and then put it back on the steering controls.

_We should move faster towards the future, not try to avoid it or deny it._

Lance mentally and as tactfully as he was capable told Red to shut the fuck up. Red, chuckled at him again and he was about to tell the lion to stop laughing at him, very loudly when Sven and Romelle appeared behind him and Allura. "We're going ahead with the plan. There are slaves on that planet, Lotor is possibly bringing more. We must."

"I agree," Allura said.

"We've got your backs," Lance said, pushing the sudden rage he felt down, or trying to anyway. He felt both Allura and Sven's eyes on him though. He knew they caught something in his voice. This is what he got for letting people get close to him, he reminded himself. It was something he'd been saying to himself since he'd befriended Sven and Keith at the Academy.

~~.~~

Allura gasped when she saw the dead planet the moon revolved around, then saw the lush life on the moon. On the sensors and from her vantage point in Red Lion. It was too bright. "It's terraformed?" she asked and said at once, amazed. "I've never seen such terraforming."

"Me either," Sven said.

Lance stared at it and he shook his head. "I would think that if Zarkon could terraform like this he might want to make Doom more habitable."

Sven made a noise in his throat, which caught Allura's attention, she watched him reached back into his pocket and pull out a little notebook, where he scribbled a note. "The ring of fire should come up as soon as Lotor's flagship gets through the atmosphere."

Lance nodded, still keeping Red out of the way of any scanners. Then there was a flash instead of a ring of fire the moon turned into fireball. "Whoa!"

"That isn't how the description in the intelligence report made it sound," Romelle said. "Red can still get through right?"

Lance felt Red growl in response, offended by the question, he stroked the steering the controls in an immediate response to sooth.

"Red, she was only asking to make sure, not that she doubted you," Allura said out loud. "She calming?" Allura asked Lance.

"Yeah, but she'd determined as hell now," Lance chuckled.

"Allura you really can pick up so much from her?" Sven asked.

"It's because she can fly Red too, Sven, that's all. It's not personal," Lance said.

"I didn't mean to upset her," Romelle said.

"She knows," Lance and Allura said.

Sven leaned over Lance and typed in coordinates onto the console. "Intelligence said this was the safest landing point on the planet."

Lance nodded, he hit a few buttons and then looped around at full speed going far from the planet before he dived down towards the fireball that hid a terraformed beautiful moon. Allura found herself, gripping Lance's thigh as they shot into the fire, she heard Romelle gasp, and she felt her cousin and Sven's hands grip the back of the command chair.

All they could see was fire much like when red roared out of the volcano, only this felt denser, and it was manmade fire not naturally created. Allura found her eyes falling onto the controls. Sven was doing the same.

They both at the same time said. "Lance she's starting..."

"She's fine, ignore it," Lance snapped, hitting a few buttons and Allura saw the levels of Red's engine core start to cool down.

Sven however didn't relax. "What did you do?"

"Relax," Lance said, as he pointed the lion toward the coordinates. "Ten more seconds, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," and the planet came into a view, bright, alive, all hard rock or blue water. "The moon," he said.

Sven let out a breath.

Allura relaxed her grip on Lance's thigh and she stared at the moon, her eyes falling on the river and the high hills, mountains all around it and she felt her throat tighten.

Lance's hand fell on top of hers. "We'll kick its ass," he whispered, as he softly landed Red on the ground.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lance scanned the surrounding area of where he'd landed. They were near a riverbed in a flat space between two large hills that crept down from the larger mountains in the ranges they were part of and he didn't feel safe at all. "You're sure your intel is trustworthy?" he asked, the hair on the back of his neck rising up. It was the first time he'd asked the question, heard the question, or even thought the question. He felt stupid for it.

Sven was quiet behind him, looking outside through the viewport. "I was," he admitted.

"Sven, he's always been..."

"It could've been faked, we couldn't have been trusting, I didn't authenticate it. Så dum," Sven said, hitting himself in the head with his palm.

"I don't understand, why are you two worried," Romelle asked. "There is nothing out there, and the landing site from the intelligence report is right up that hill, just like it said."

"Just like it said," Lance muttered.

"It's too quiet out there, Romelle," Sven said. "Way too quiet."

"Okay, I'll start Red up when you two leave, but I won't go anywhere," Lance said, shooting a look at Allura.

"I'm going outside with them, but I won't I'll hidden under Red," Allura said, checking her blaster, glancing at Romelle.

Lance didn't like it, it felt like walking into the trap, and the prophecy. He started to shake his head, Allura's eyes widened. She moved her eyes to Romelle again, who was touching her stomach, probably subconsciously again. Lance felt his own gut roil, against Allura's plan yet he knew that look in her eyes, that protective glint toward her cousin. He nodded.

"Well, good, now that silent conversation is over," Sven said. "Are you ready," he asked Romelle.

Romelle started to answer, then she went from pale to green, and Lance said. "Hell no, not in the Lion," and he opened the hatch that led to short drop down to the ground. Romelle flew to the open the door and vomited out of it. Allura gave Lance an I-Told-You-So look and Sven ran after Romelle, his hands on her back. "Romelle? Are you frightened, you can stay here with Lance."

"I'm not frightened, well no more than usual. It's the stomach bug I've been fighting off, nerves must of aggravated it."

Lance rolled his eyes at Allura, Allura glared at him and he heard her in his head loud and clear. "Stop it, it's her secret to tell."

"If he's dumb enough to not put two and two together," Lance thought back, shaking his head. "Talk about, _så dum,_"

Allura rolled her eyes at him, then turned to her cousin. "Romelle?"

"I'm ready," she said with a decisive nod. Both her and Sven checked their smaller blasters, which they had so they conceal them in the casual, worn clothing they were wearing so they could appear to belong with the slaves. It was part of Sven's plan.

Lance watched, his jaw clenching as Allura with her helmet now on jumped down as well he didn't like it.

"I have to watch, Romelle," her voice said in his mind.

He jumped, because he hadn't realized he'd thought anything toward her. "How do you turn it off," he asked.

"I don't know," she thought back.

Lance immediately started thinking very hard about how he didn't want her to complete access to his thoughts because what if she heard some stray, crazy thought about him thinking... he shivered at the thought and what havoc that would make. He'd almost thought and she was down their focusing on Sven and Romelle walking towards the landing zone, to go join a group of slaves. Holding his breath he didn't hear anything from Allura, good it was gone, for now.

He focused on his task, he started up Red Lion and the second he started the engines, Lotor in his own small ship started to fire at him from above, and ten Drules appeared out of well hidden areas in the hill Sven and Romelle were walking firing at them. They dropped to their bellies. Lance fired at Lotor from the ground, he contacted Allura via normal communications. "Get up here," he yelled.

"No, they are out numbered,"

"They'll still be outnumbered without you."

"She's pregnant."

"Allura!" Lance yelled. "Don't!" But it was fruitless, she was out from under red and running towards Romelle and Sven. He shot out cover fire, watched his scanners for Lotor who was hovering over him.

His communications beeped then Lotor's voice was coming over it. "Is that Princess Allura, running towards Princess Romelle and her madman hero?"

"You damn well who it is, Lotor," Lance said pulling up hard on Red's steering and shooting up into the sky, eye on the scanning.

"I'm disappointed, I had hoped you were Commander Keith, since the Princess was here," Lotor said

Lance dodged the laser attack that came with the sentence, easily, watching his scanners and feinting a fly to the right and instead he went down and fired with his magma missiles, hitting Lotor's left wing. "Don't you mean scared, it's me and not him," Lance said. "We all know, Lotor, I'm the only one who can shoot you down."

Communications went silent, Lotor fired a complete missile barrage at him in response, Lance dodged and feinted, a few hit Red but her shields held, he watched out the viewport and on the scanners. Then a felt a shudder of fear as he watched Lotor fly away from their fight and toward the landing site. Swearing, he landed Red himself again, opened the hatch and hurried outside, he wasn't going to be protecting anyone from the sky now.

On the ground, he stayed undercover of Red for a long moment, surveying the hill where Romelle, Sven and Allura were. They'd gotten into the bushes that lined the side of the path closer to the river, all three of them shooting, but their angle was all wrong to hit the Drules, what the hell were the shooting at? He watched them fire again and saw where they were aiming, two Drules, were firing at them from a perch on a pathway, above them were three boulders on much narrower path, blocked only by rock the jutted in their way, their blasters were cutting the rock. Any minute now the boulders would fall off the path and endanger the two Drules below.

Lance looked up the hill, he frowned, he could see Lotor making his way down, Lazon sword already drawn out, and he frowned. He watched his friends fire again and boulders rolled away, and he ran for it, firing at three other Drules who firing from a spot that was closer to him, he hit one in the chest. Possibly, he hit one in the arm or shoulder but that wouldn't slow the Drule down. He dived into the bushes and joined his friends.

"Good job with the boulder."

"Only thing I could think off, we are quite pinned in, you should have flown off."

"And leave you three behind?" Lance said. "Sorry, but I don't want to look into Bandor's big eyes and tell him I left his sister behind while Lotor was there. And I, especially, don't want to castrated by Keith."

"You got me there," Sven said.

Allura touched Lance's arm. "He's here."

Lance's spine went rigid, Sven moved in front of Romelle, and he felt himself moving towards Allura himself. He held his breath waiting to see what Lotor's move would be, he knew where they were they weren't hidden from him.

"You have nowhere to go, how did you like my little trap. Father, thought it too risky, to bring you here but I knew it would work. It worked even better than I planned. It brought you here to me as well, Allura. The four of you will be so shocked to see how far the fist of my Father's Kingdom stretches. And Allura you'll be the Queen by my side, reigning over it."

Lance and Sven glanced at each other, Lance gave Sven the go ahead.

"Lotor, do you have a point."

"A point, yes, I do! You have walked into my trapped, so surrender and I won't kill you all right away," Lotor said, ending with hearty laugh.

Sven glanced at Lance. "My plan is to be with the slaves, but we can't be sure that is where Lotor would put us," Sven scratched his face and glanced Romelle.

Romelle, who looked a bit green still, shook her head. "I don't think Lotor would put us with the slaves that he brought over from Doom, he sees the four of us a higher caliber prizes."

Lance remembered the words that Allura written down, he glanced her, held her gaze and silently asked her if they would end up with slaves. He knew she would know what he meant, and he didn't want to risk another mind-meld with her. He then made a unilateral decision.

He stood up hands raised. "Fine Lotor, we surrender," he said, Allura standing up right after him. Sven and Romelle a minute or two later, slower to do so because they weren't expecting Lance to make the decision without talking it out with them. Sven gave him a glare, Lance muttered out of the side of his mouth, "We were screwed anyway."

Lotor laughed. "Wonderful, wonderful. Allura and Romelle will come over to me first."

"Fuck that," Lance yelled back. "We all come over the same time, you smarmy bastard."

Lotor glowered, stomped forward coming within two feet of where they all stood in the bushes, his lazon sword pointing towards Lance. "Are you going to be smart about this Lance, because we all know you can't you handle me on the ground. Only in the air."

Lance looked at Sven in his peripheral and nodded subtly. "You're right, I can't handle you hand to hand at all," he admitted, but he stepped forward in one large stride, kicked out and hit Lotor's sword hand with his foot. Causing Lotor to drop the sword.

As Lotor yelped in surprise and pain, Sven attacked him from behind. "I on the other hand can handle you one on one in hand to hand," he announce getting four easy shots.

Drules started shooting, causing Lance, Allura and Romelle to drop the ground. Lotor yelled, "I will handle these heathen Earthlings on my own, stand down as he squared off with Sven," he shouted, his eyes on where his sword had fallen on the pathway ground.

Lance kept his eyes on the fight and the sword, Sven was holding his own but Lotor was getting them towards the damn sword, he swore. They were still screwed because he knew it for a fact, damn fucking prophecy.

"Allura, keep your eyes on the fight, if it looks Sven's losing ground use your blaster on Lotor."

Allura nodded at him, her own jaw set, her eyes already focused on the fight, the hand that wasn't locked tight in a grip with Romelle's pulled out her blaster.

Lance slowly started to move closer to Lotor's sword, getting ready to either try to secretly grab it, or to pounce for it if had too before Lotor got the chance. It took him awhile, but he finally got into a closer position which left him rather open for being shot, yet the Drule guards were all focused on the fight with Sven and Lotor, letting their Prince be the center of attention. He shook his head, imbeciles, how was Zarkon's Kingdom such a tyranny? Or did Zarkon hand over the worst soldiers to his son?

Sven was starting to show signs of getting tired, Lotor wasn't, damn Drule physiology. Sven staggered back after a rather hard hit, his heel hitting the hilt of the sword, causing him to trip over it and fall. He was on it however, Lotor glared down at him. Allura shot Lotor in the arm, Lotor screamed, grabbed his wound with his other hand and stared over.

"Allura, you shot me?"

Sven grabbed the sword, Lance held his breath and made sure he was ready to shoot himself. Allura didn't answer Lotor, she just shot another blast at him, this time missing only by an inch hitting him in his ear. Lance had a feeling, she hadn't meant to miss. Lotor growled, turned back toward Sven to find Sven pointed his own sword at his throat.

"You're going to let us go," Sven said, calm and cool.

Lance never knew how he did that, he wasn't even breathing deeply and one second ago it'd been obvious he was getting tired. Lotor glared at them, Lance held his breath because they were still surrounded and Sven knew it was a ridiculous threat.

"Shoot him," Lotor ordered.

Lance didn't think then, he knew Allura and Romelle would shoot at whatever Drules they could see, that Sven would drop but he was still a wide open target. So he did pounce, only not on a sword but instead to tackle Sven to the ground. He felt hot white burning pain on his left calf, right after he and Sven hit the ground and rolled to the hill. Drules appeared right above them blasters out, whips on their belts.

Lotor grumbled, holding the wound Allura had inflicted. "Put them in the storage room as cell up at the landing zone while I deal with this wound," Lotor shouted.

A Drule forced Lance to his feet, stabbing pain running up his whole leg at the slightest bit of weight. "Son of a bitch," he gritted through his teeth. Allura and his eyes met and he heard her in his head.

"Your leg, it happened before we could even see it coming."

"Getting captured didn't," he thought back.

Allura sighed. "It hurts."

"Fuck yes, it hurts," Lance thought.

"Good, I hope Lotor's shoulder hurts twice as much," she thought bitterly.

"That's my girl," Lance thought.

As the Drule guards started hearding them towards the landing zone, Allura wrapped her arm around his waist to offer herself as his walking assistant. Lance closed his eyes, thought hard on ending their mental connection, inhaled her inherent Allura smell and gave into her warmth for the duration of the walk.

~~.~~

Allura watched as Sven ripped up the seam of Lance's uniform to get to where his wound was on his calf, then started to apply first aid from the kit in Lance's utility built. Every time Lance winced, or flinched, she felt herself doing the same thing, she ended up looking away at the wall of shelves filled with Drule cleaning supplies. Drules cleaned, who knew, she thought wryly. Romelle's hand was on her shoulder.

Allura turned and the two women said in unison. "How you okay?" They both laughed nervously. Romelle nodded. "I am now that Sven is not fighting Lotor, though I am still nauseas. How are you?"

Allura heard Lance let out a litany of swear words and she tried not to shudder at what he was probably feel from the laser wound. She shook her head. "I don't know, I don't know what I am, Romelle," she whispered.

Romelle pulled her into a hug, Allura let her, feeling the comfort of the sisterly love, remembering the long almost forgotten sensation of being hugged by her mother, held against soft curves. Allura blinked back tears, her mind was all over the place. Part of her back on Arus, worried that'd she'd upset Keith too much this time, that he would never trust her because she kept doing things and saying; I can't explain why. Most of her was across the room, terrified for Lance. His leg was injured, next step off a cliff, into a river and falling through the ground of one cave into the other. She shivered from the fear and pulled back Romelle. The prophecy was turning out to be powerful and her mind couldn't help but think about the part where she found him, where she was in the cave too, a fire burning and they kissed.

That picture looked like a romantic date. It was so different from the rest, yet it followed capture and pain. Allura didn't know what to think, she took a breath and thought about Keith. She'd hold onto everything she loved and adored about Keith. His eyes, his earnestness, his hope, and his arms around her. How warm and beautiful he made her feel, when they were together and kissing, how much she loved being along with him, touching and kissing him and feeling lightheaded and buzzy afterwards.

Keith, Keith, Keith, Keith, she chanted.

"Fucking butcher, you were always damn worst at this," Lance screamed.

"Stop trying to move your leg away from the damn needle, I got to stitch this up don't be a childman, get over it!" Sven shouted back with the worst bedside manner ever.

Allura looked up sharply, crap she'd forgot he was afraid of needles and Sven had give him stitches. She rushed over, kneeled down next to Sven. "I'll do it," she said, catching Lance's gaze.

Lance met her eyes, she saw the fear there and the pain. She took a breath, pushed all her unwieldy thoughts away, and thought. "It'll be fine, I promise."

"I hate that fucking needle," he thought back at her.

She smiled. "Nanny should wash your mouth out with soap," she thought. "Tell me something I don't know," she said.

"Long list of things there, Princess," Lance laughed in her head.

She glared at him and said out loud. "Play nice, or you won't forget what I'm doing." For emphasis she started to sew his skin together.

"Bitch," he shouted.

Allura laughed since she'd expected him to call her that, while both Sven and Romelle gasped.

"Fine, you win, but narrow down the subject field, woman," Lance thought back and Allura could see him gritting his teeth.

She hated it, seeing him in pain, facing an irrational fear wide open and vulnerable in front of them all. He probably was as freaked out by the prophecy as her as well. "Tell me about how you learned to fly," she asked. "Did you know right away you were a natural?"


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-six

"Tell me about how you learned to fly," she asked him, direct to his mind. "Did you know right away you were a natural?" Allura press her hand gently against Lance's unharmed skin, above the gash the Drule's blaster had left on his right calf. It was hot against her palm. She hoped her idea to distract him from the needle worked.

"My grandpa was a crop duster," he started his voice low in her mind as it would be out loud.

"Crop duster?" she asked.

"Take a plane and spray a field of corn or wheat with water, pesticide; whatever it is that is needed. Also Grandpa McClain used his to help with brushfires. They happened a lot if there was a drought, I grew up in a drought."

"Oh," Allura thought, her mind searching for why her agrarian society didn't have anything of the sort for a brief second, it was right there, something she learned when she was a child...

"Because a long time ago, Arus decided to stay environmentally friendly, Allura. Nothing that runs on fuels, they'd never us pesticides either... Thanks for letting me have my motorcycle by the way," he said.

"Oh, I'm all flustered," she responded shaking her head at herself. "So, your grandpa?"

"I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, both my parents worked. He took me up in his plane all the time. On his runs, he called them. Told me all the dials, what everything meant, what it did, how it did it. There were random pop quizzes to make sure I was listening. I spent most of my time poking my head over the edge of my cockpit, looking down at the world below, watching it speed away behind us."

Allura started to sew the stitches, feeling her mind, Lance's thoughts gathering, the memories coming up and that he was going to move forward.

"When I was ten he started letting me take control in the front, for spurts of time. Flying straight, nothing crazy, I just got the feel of the plane, you know?"

"The front?" Allura asked, trying to get a full mental picture, she almost had it from him, but was lacking definition of terms from his mind to hers.

"It was a bi-plane, he retro-fitted it for crop dusting himself. He let me hold a wrench or two," Lance explained. "Their are two cockpits, the main pilot usually flies from the backseat. Just is, I guess, never thought about why."

Allura smiled as she saw it more clearly. "Oh. So, when did you start doing the crazy things?"

"There was a fire," Lance laughed.

"Allura giggled but her fingers stayed sure as she worked on the stitches. "Of course there was."

"Grandma and I were in the kitchen, I was a few months shy of my eleventh birthday. Grandpa was miles away in the city doing farm errands with my Dad - It was a Saturday. My mom was working at the hospital, she was always working."

"Hospital?"

"Animal hospital, she was a vet, a country vet. I think she was birthing a cow."

"Oh, okay," Allura said, her smile going wider than it was already.

"Well, a 911 call came in my Grandpa's radio in the kitchen. It was always on, in case of emergency. The brushfires."

"Right," Allura nodded.

"There was a brushfire, of course, he was the closest plane and a pair of local kids where lost out in the field too. Friends of mine as it was, but really there was them and me, it was a small town."

"Grandma picked up and explained that he wasn't home, they'd have get someone else, I guess. I wouldn't know what she said, I was gone. I was more than halfway to the barn - he kept the plane there - by then I think. I knew all the instruments, I'd seen him fly over brushfires, then find a lake and use his hose gadget he'd connected to reload the water. It'd be a piece of cake."

"If it was anyone else telling this story, I'd be worried right now."

Lance laughed, in her head and his voice vibrated and echoed within her in a way that made her blush, so she ducked her head down to focus on the stitches.

"I started the plane and I took off; then I saw Grandma McClain in the rearview mirror, my grandpa had put on the plane, running after me. Never knew she could run until then. I could see she was screaming and I could guess it was Lance Charles McClain get your fucking ass back down on the goddamn ground. You think my mouth needs to be washed out with soap," Lance explained.

"What happened in the air?"

"Everything was great, awesome, better than that really. Take was utterly fantastic Allura! Someday, I'll take up in a bi-plane, I don't know how but I will. The Lions are amazing but this is different.

"Sounds amazing," Allura said, feeling every wave of memory as he spoke to her of his first flight. She met his eyes happy he was sharing such a happy, amazing memory and he winked.

"Completely."

"And," Allura prompted.

"And then I was high in the sky, Baby."

"Completely awesome?"

"Better," Lance said.

"And..." Allura pushed needing to know more, wanting to know how the story ended and wanting to share the full memory with him. Yet she stayed focused on the stitches, she was at the hardest section of torn skin. It was the trickiest section of the wound, but luckily the last.

"Grandma came on the radio."

"Uh, oh."

"Oh yeah. She was swearing and screaming, telling me to turn around and get back in the barn."

"What did you do?"

"I told her, 'I'm going to go put out the fire.'"

"Did you?"

"Well..."

Allura laughed.

"I get to where the fire was, I doused it, just like Grandpa would do but it wasn't enough. I don't think the plane even had half of what it needed water wise. So, I was going to go to the lake I knew he used to fill her up, with the hose thing, I told you about..."

"This all makes perfect sense."

"You know, Blue Lion would've been really handy," Lance said, digressing.

Allura felt a surge of pride, she shook her head. "Finish the story."

"I saw my friends, and the fire was right on their heels. Which considering Tyler started it, made perfect sense."

"Small town my cute butt, of course your friend started the fire," Allura thought, her amusement pouring over in her thoughts.

Lance laughed and it was like a warmth unlike anything Allura knew until that moment, it coated the inside of her mind and she found herself blushing and quite happy she'd finished with the stitching. Now she was bandaging.

"How did you save them?" she asked.

"The hose," Lance said in her head but he shrugged.

"The hose?"

Lance grinned a wide grin that Allura felt had to be considered dangerous but she wasn't sure why. "I looped around, looking at them running, then it hit me how I could save them. I flew in as low as I could manage, released the hose, it always popped out a bit when on the ground. It worked how I thought it would, it completely unraveled. I lowered a bit in front of them, and them being who they were, didn't think and didn't ask. They just ran and jumped up. They both grabbed onto the hose for dear life. Then I flew to where I knew the firetrucks and emergency vehicles would be and deposited on top of an ambulance for effect."

"Then you flew back to your grandparents?"

"It was the plan," Lance said.

"Lance?"

Lance laughed. "I hit the switch that brings the hose back in, and it worked. I was thinking, hell yeah I am a genius. As I was flying off, I saw other planes coming in with water. I felt my job was done. So, I decided, to you know enjoy the sky."

Allura nodded.

"I zigzagged, I went up, I dived down, and pulled up really fast before I get the ground. I contemplated doing a loop but chickened out. And all that time I forgot one tiny detail."

"What?"

"To check the gas gauge."

Allura's eyes widened.

"Also, all this time Grandma has been coming on the radio every five minutes cussing me out and telling me to get home. The cycle only broken when she came on and said: You little bastard, you saved those goddamn kids. Now I got to thrash you and bake you a cake."

Allura giggled.

"Then Grandpa came on the radio. My dad and he had gotten home. Grandpa said: I hear you did some real good flying there, kiddo. But look at your gas gauge and get home before fall out of the sky."

"Then it was like one of those, confluence of events moments, because my eyes swung to the gas gauge, it was already on E, who knew how long it'd been there. And the plane sputtered and the engine crapped out."

"Oh my god,"

"Yeah, I was over a lake, though. So, I yelled into the radio. Crap, Grandpa it just died, uh, I'm diving off this plane before it hits the water. Then I unstrapped myself, climbed up, waited until I knew I wouldn't kill myself and jumped before the plane hit the water. The impact still pushed me further under than I would have liked. But uh, I survived, but man I was scared then. I'd drowned my Grandpa's plane."

"Were you punished?"

"Hell yeah. Grandma spanked me, nothing like getting swatted in the ass while your soaking wet, with all the local cops laughing at you. Then she asked me what I wanted her to bake for me. Grandpa stood staring out at the lake, forever, silent as a stone. I thought he might never talk to me again. And my parents, grounded me the rest of the summer and also told me I was no longer allowed to see Tyler. The pyromaniac."

"A good call."

"Yeah, I disagreed at the time. He was fun to hang out with."

Allura nodded. "We're done with the stitches," she said out loud.

Lance sat up straighter and looked at his leg, then he looked at Sven, who was sitting with Romelle, with the oddest expression on his face. "She has a way better bedside manner."

Sven shook his head. "Did you two just have a whole conversation?"

"Yeah, about your bad bedside manner," Lance cracked.

"I thought it'd distract him more if it was in his head," Allura said.

"It worked, that is all that matters," Romelle said. "How long are they going to keep us in here?"

Allura sighed and looked at the door. There were no windows, no way to look out, to see how many guards there were. No way to see if there might be a way to escape. She moved to sit next to Lance and folded her knees so they were under her chin. "I hope not too much longer," she said. "Lance needs a real doctor to look at his leg." She also shot Romelle a look, but Romelle shook her head, hand on her stomach. Allura took comfort in the fact she looked less green than before, now that she was leaning into Sven's hold.

Lance's arm came around her shoulders, warm and solid, familiar. Allura breathed out. Lance's voice was in her head again a second later. "What happens?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we get lucky, Lotor leaves. We just get put with the slaves. Sven should be able to go on with his plan, though walking is going to be awful for you."

"I'll manage."

"I'll be there, helping you."

"Thank you," Lance said. "For taking over, distracting me. It was fun to tell that story, I haven't told it in ages."

"I loved it, it would figure your first flight would be an adventure like none other."

"I guess," Lance shrugged, but he was grinning. Allura nudged him with her shoulder

~~.~~

Coran and Keith were glowering at the control room's main computer. Keith could feel Coran's own irritation, angry and worry waving over to him but he tried to keep his own body language in control, relaxed. He didn't want Coran to know he was as angry at Allura taking off against orders, on a possible dangerous mission, with Lance, as Coran was. He especially didn't want Coran to realize this was the second time it'd happened in a week - Keith took in a deep breathe. He had promised to try to trust her, but...she was testing him in the worse way possible. Why had she done this?

Keith was starting to think he didn't understand Allura anymore, or maybe he hadn't understood her at all and always had thought they had because of their easy connection when he and team had first arrived on Arus. They'd seen eye to eye more than not, and when they hadn't, when they hadn't it'd be Allura and Coran and him. He frowned. Somehow over the years, it'd become him and Coran against Allura?

Allura had grown stronger, he smiled as his mind thought back on the years, the idealistic young girl she'd been, the stubborn young woman who knew she could be a good team member, who felt it her duty to protect her planet. He'd been behind her decision, in awe of a young woman with so much strength and empathy for the plight of her people. He'd help her fight for it, and when she listened to Coran when he and the other thought she shouldn't... He explained it, and she listened.

Somewhere though on her way to being the woman she was now, Keith hadn't noticed things that he was noticing now. Allura was a woman now, he knew that for sure. She was still young, naive, idealistic in a lot of ways, and romantic. He knew when he had her in his arms, she didn't understand what her soft touches, smell, kiss and sounds did him.

It'd been a dream come true to be allowed to be with her, to tell her he found her beautiful, to see if his heart was taken with her forever. A priveledge he thought he'd never have. One he knew Coran didn't want to keep. Another reason he was keeping the fact that this action from Allura, was a pattern of behavior. He'd gotten caught up in the romance, the intimacy of speaking with her openly about how much he cared, the small touches they shared, the handholding. He never really noticed that he wasn't looking at the woman Allura had become, the woman who had gone to Coran to ask for permission for their courtship.

He'd missed it. He'd realized it last night while they were talking, in the way she and Romelle spoke with each other. In way Allura explained everything to him. He'd missed the actual transition from girl to woman. She'd been right under his nose, beautiful and wonderful. She was always the same in so many ways. Empathetic, wise beyond her years and sweetly naive all at once - it was perhaps his favorite part of her. That in itself was possibly his downfall, he'd been so focused on her gift for caring, the surprising way she could see things and say the wisest things, that helped him to be a better leader, and her sweetness... Her beautiful sweetness.

Hindsight in the past few weeks had him realizing that she was still all those things but she was also bold, stubborn, and independent. Also she needed and she was right to start to step out of the shadow of Coran and Nanny. She went to them less and less for advice on running her Kingdom, she disagreed with them more often and she fought her cases - well. She had a wicked sense of humor, that more than once caught him by surprise, that he didn't remember noticing before. It was always there, hanging out with Lance had only brought it out, not created it.

He'd had her in a box, and Allura was firmly not in that box anymore. Keith took a breath he had to get to know her again, now that he'd opened his eyes.

"He is late," Coran bit out about Lance.

Keith nodded. Lance was too late. "I'll try to contact them," he said.

"I want this fixed, Keith. The Princess cannot be going off on missions without permission, nor without you there. You are the leader. Now Nanny and I have been tolerating her friendship with Lance, but if it is a factor in this... there will have to be more ground rules drawn," Coran said then walked off briskly.

Keith sighed, he was going to read her the riot act of course. As her Commander. He didn't know yet what he was going to do as her boyfriend he was seeing things differently. He had to get to know her again and he didn't want things to be always so strained between them. He'd seen the truth in her eyes last night, she wanted to be with him. Keith knew he trusted her with his life, and he trusted Lance with it as well. He should trust them with the secrets they keep as friends. Allura should be allowed her own space as she grows more and more into the Queen she'll someday be.

Keith sat down and started to try to contact the Red Lion.

~~.~~

The door to the storage room boomed open. Lotor had kicked it open, Lance glared at him as he jumped up to his feet, forgetting that his calf had been slashed open. Allura and Sven both grabbed him before he fell back on his ass. Lance then shoved Allura, behind him as he Sven made an united front.

"It gives me great pleasure to know, Lance, that you'll be walking forty-five miles on the leg," Lotor grinned. "I would love to see it and have helped you along with a whip, or a laser blast to make your feet move faster, but alas I am needed back on Doom."

"I'm so sad," Lance muttered.

"Allura," Lotor moved forward, shoving Lance who lost his balance as he pushed against the wall of the room. He gripped Allura by the shoulders, Lance watched Allura struggle to try to kick, or push him away. Sven went to shove him away and was grabbed by a guard. Lotor's face was getting way too close to Allura's mouth for Lance's taste. Sacrificing his leg, he put his full wait on both legs, grabbed Lotor by the shoulder and pulled him off of Allura. Allura seeing an opening, shoved her combat booted foot in Lotor's groin.

Lotor stumbled backward, scrambled up and glared at Lance. "You'll be sorry, McClain. Allura, I'll see you on the other side," he said cryptically.

The Drule guard with him, let go of Sven. "Take the to the cell?"

"Yes, throw them all in with the other slaves."

Lance stood his ground, full force on both legs, ignoring the burning pain, praying he hadn't hurt his stitches but he wasn't risking a thing with Lotor, not until the Prince's backside disappeared. The Drule took out his blaster. "Get moving humans, we've got a walk," his eyes landed on Lance at the word and he grinned.

"Fuck off," Lance answered.

The blaster was in his face. "Keep it up, McClain, we will kill you."

Lance, please. He heard Allura in his head, two simple words with a huge dollop of fear for him. He kept glaring at the Drule but kept his mouth shut, for her, only for Allura.

Sven and Allura, both were suddenly taking his arms and putting them around their shoulders, Allura's arm snaked around his waist. Sven was shaking his head. "Always, got to do just one more stupid thing, couldn't just have left it at stopping Lotor from kissing Allura, no piss off the Drule guard," Sven muttered at him, but Lance met Sven's brown and saw the respect and worry.

Romelle came into his peripheral, her hand landing into Sven's free hand. "We'll be able to carry out the rest of the plan?" she whispered.

Sven nodded. "I think so, I think the intelligence was right. They walk the slaves over the mountain and from there they go somewhere else, why there are two sites for it, I don't know. But ships will be there for us to help them escape in."

"At least one thing went right," Lance said. "Keith's having a fit by now. He knows we're not on our way back."

Allura tensed. "I hope Doom doesn't attack Arus," she whispered.

Lance looked over at her as they walked, has he tried not to put too much weight on his bad leg, and to lean more on Sven than Allura. It was almost impossible she was softer, curvier and a lot more pleasing. "They will, lion short, but don't worry. They'll handle it."

Allura nodded.


	37. Chapter 37

Thirty-seven

The Drule Guard pushed Lance purposely hard into the cell, Allura nearly buckled as all his weight landed on her as Sven lost his grip from the jolt of pain that rose up Lance as he put too much weight on his leg to keep from falling. Allura gritted her teeth and kept them both upright, they'd all taken care of her, so many times, she wasn't going to let one of them down now. Especially not Lance.

The slaves in the cell had all moved to the back, were now slowly coming forward and one of them gasped. "You, your Voltron Force members," he said stepping forward staring at Lance and Allura. "The Princess of Arus," he whispered as his stare landed on her.

Allura nodded. "We're here to help you."

"Help us, how when you're in the same situation we are?" the man asked, shaking his head. "You shouldn't have come, Princess. You should have stayed on your planet, fought with Voltron. You're making a dent that way."

He sounded defeated, broken, he was looking down on the ground now, no one else had stepped up behind him. He was still shaking his head, Allura now knew why Sven and Romelle had wanted to be among the slaves; she'd understood it rationally but it never really when beyond statements and words to her until now. They knew the slaves would be lost, broken, possible completely defeated. They knew they had to befriend them, speak to them and help them find their spark of life and courage again. The way Romelle had saved Sven on Doom when she'd been tossed in the Pit of Skulls and found him down there, surviving but nearly to the point of never coming back from insanity from it all.

"Hope isn't lost," Allura said. "What is your name?" she asked, thankful for the nudge Lance gave her to keep talking to him, she didn't want to stop but she also wanted to get Lance off his feet. She glanced at Sven and Romelle, Sven nodded at her to continue.

"I am Fin, Princess Allura."

"I'm Allura," she said, unnecessarily maybe, but she wanted to try to be more familiar. To drop her title for him. "This is Lance, could you help me get him to the floor? He's been hurt?"

"It's not that bad," Lance said, Allura rolled her eyes.

"Fin, he says that out macho reflex, it is bad and I'd like to check his stitches," Allura said.

"Oh, yes, yes," Fin said after a brief moment where he slowly looked up and looked at Lance. This time seeing more than just a member of Voltron but the man and the injury. Fin then made some hand motions and three people rushed forward, all women, and Allura and Lance found themselves quickly in a corner of the cell. Allura noticed Sven walked up to Fin, and she felt that was a start and she focused on who was with her now, helping her help Lance.

One of the women, was her age or younger, she gave Lance some water. "I'd give you more but we have to hide and ration it," she explained.

"You don't have to explain," Lance said.

A woman around Nanny's age had already undone his bandage and looked at his wound. She shook her head. "This is a nasty laser wound, it went through your uniform I see. The stitches are tight, but its very puffy and red, probably already infected. Do you have something for that?" the woman asked Allura. "Sorry, I was a nurse on Ebb, for a long time before I was here."

"Thank you," Allura said, opening her utility belt. "This is what we have," Allura gave her the anitbiotic tube from the small kit in her belt. "Sven used most of Lance's tube, already," Allura was worried. "It's not going to be enough is it?"

"Don't," Lance told her.

Allura stared at him. "Don't order me around with one word sentences like Keith tries to do with you!"

Lance raised his hands. "I'm just saying, worry about them, Romelle and you, Allura."

"No," Allura snapped back. "I'll worry about them, Romelle, Sven, you and me."

The other woman poked Lance in the arm then, both he and Allura looked at her, they saw kind grey eyes, which also held extreme sadness. She held a bunch of fabric up and mimed Lance moving up so she could put it behind his head. Lance looked like he was going to say no, so Allura grabbed his collar and yanked. "Here you go," she said. "Thank you," she added but the woman walked away.

"She never talks, but she's always helpful. We don't know anything else," the nurse explained. "Yet, I think she's one of the sanest of us all. I am Rona, by the way."

Allura smiled at Rona. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, Rona. You may call me, Allura," she said.

Rona nodded as she replaced the bandages on Lance's calf. "Try not to put your full weight on it, I wish we had some ice," she said. Then she pressed her hand against his forehead. "No, fever."

Allura realized she'd been holding her breath, as she breathed out harshly then sucked air back in. Rona smiled. "He'll be okay, though from what I've heard the guards say we'll be walking a long way tomorrow."

"I know," Allura said. "Lotor, ran his mouth at us," she explained to the woman, but her mind was really on the pictures she'd seen, of the four of them. She turned to glance at Sven and Romelle. Sven had Fin talking to him, and a few others. Romelle was talking with the woman who didn't speak yet they did seem to be communication, there were a few younger women behind her, waiting to see if she approved Romelle it looked liked.

"For someone who doesn't speak, her opinion matters," Lance said.

Rona turned and she watched the groupings herself, then her eyes turned the rest of the slaves, quiet in their own groupings, watching and she nodded. "Yes. Like I said, she's quite sane, she gets her points across despite not speaking and she's strong. They listen to her actions. Fin, Fin they trust from his actions too, he's very traumatized, he was taken off of Arus a long time ago, Princ-, I'm sorry, Allura."

Allura watched him with Sven, he was shaking his head but at the same time he was looking backward at the rest of the slaves, especially at the younger ones. The ones around Lance and Sven's age, the ones her age and younger. Allura glanced at Lance though when they both heard Fin say. "It's insanity."

"It won't be easy," Lance said, but his eyes were on Romelle and the Quiet Woman. Allura turned towards them again, and watched. The Quiet Woman, nodded, she turned to the young women behind her and she touched, Romelle's stomach and mimed a holding a baby. Someone appeared with a small cup of water, much like what Lance had been offered. Romelle's eyes widened and she started, looking towards Sven.

The Quiet Woman looked like she was laughing, thought no noise left her throat. She then put her finger to lips and pointed to Sven, and shook her head. The three women, nodded, Romelle accepted the water and thanked them. The Quiet Woman, then made Romelle follow her across the room until they were by Allura, Rona and Lance. She told Rona, in the same fashion that Romelle was pregnant and not to tell Sven, then she walked away. Romelle stood there staring at her as she walked away. "I think she's agreed to the escape plan, already, to work on others. I... how did she know?"

Rona shook her head. "She seems to know things," she said.

Allura felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck, she shared another look with Lance, he nodded. She stood up and crossed the cell to where the Quiet Woman had sat down. Sitting down next to her Allura wondered how to go about her conversation with her.

_During the attack when I was captured my vocal chords were damaged._

Allura despite herself, started, her eyes wide she stared into the older woman's grey eyes. You're from Arus, then, you are a Seer?

_Yes. Fin and I are the only two to have survived since the time we were taken. It was the attack that took your father's life. He knows my secret, he keeps it for me. Other Arusians don't hold back their distrust of Seers. I pray, my daughter has survived on Arus nonetheless._

Allura frowned, she glanced among the slaves, wondering who among them were her people, they all seemed to young. Voltron had stopped Zarkon from taking more of her people.

_ Fin and I are the only Arusians here. You are here with your King, yet it's a troubling time for the two of you._

Allura looked across the room at Lance at the words. He looked pale, but okay, she was scared though. Scared of the rest of the prophecy. He was talking quietly to Romelle, then motioning to Sven. She wondered if he was trying to talk her into telling him or assuring her he would keep her secret.

"No one knows about that, we shouldn't discuss it," Allura said. "What is your name?"

_I was named after a ancestor of mine, a name I believe you know, as you are living one of her prophecies. I only know of it orally, oral family history, the paper itself is still lost. Well, until it's found in the future, the one you went too. I am Altea. I see things about the Queens and Kings of Arus, their loves, their losses, their challenges. If she is alive on Arus, my daughter is seeing it too, only she won't know how to sort it out without my help. And I'm trapped here, a slave with no voice, no paper, no pen._

Allura swallowed. "Altea. You know we went to the future? Do you know we went to the Underground?" she whispered.

_ No. Why, why would you go to such a place Princess._

"Because I have been kept in the dark about it, Lance was made aware of it, he felt he should check it out. I met two Seers there. One was around my age. She told me it wasn't time for me to deal with the Underground, that the time would come, the Seers are hiding there."

_Your age, she spoke of you and Lance? As Queen and King?"_

Allura nodded.

Altea smiled. _My daughter. I'm sure, I was hoping but I couldn't be sure until I spoke to you. It was grey, things about your own life if you're a Seer, it clouds, it doesn't let you see. The rule is, one can only know about the future if your meant to have say in how it unfolds._

"Lance, Lance and I, we can change our future then?"

Altea looked at her with grey eyes. Do you really want too?

Allura looked across the cell at Lance, his eyes were closed now. He looked too pale to her, he was always pale but he looked too pale. Washed out. She shook her head though at Altea. "Keith. I've always seen Keith as my future."

_Going to the future, it only gave you and Lance facts. You two married, you had children. You stumbled on a few prophecies however... This one specifically, it was the point. This moment, these moments. This mission. What happens with you and Lance. It's all about you, Allura."_

"Me?" Allura stared at her. "What does that mean?"

Altea smiled. _You spoke with your father before you decided to come to this moon, did you not. What did King Alfor, say?_

"That only I knew what was right, to follow my heart."

_And here you are._

"I can't risk Lance's life," Allura whispered. "I didn't want to hurt Keith, again but..."

_ As I said, the prophecy about this moon, it's all about you Allura. Following your heart._

Allura felt unsettled, a sudden and instant uncomfortableness in her own skin. She shook her head at Altea, she shook her head and she stood back up. "I, I don't," she didn't finish the sentence because she realized it had no end. "Thank you."

_Thank you for letting me know my daughter is alive._

Allura shook head again and realized her entire body shook as she crossed the cell again, then slipped next to Lance agains the wall. He opened his eyes and looked about ready to say hello to her but he didn't say anything when he saw her face. Instead he put his arm around her and just pulled her in.

"Whatever the hell it is, it's going to be okay."

"She is a Seer," Allura confirmed, because she knew he'd been wondering too, when she walked over their to talk to Altea.

"Was she helpful?"

"No," Allura whispered. _She called you my King_, she added mentally.

Lance sighed.

~~.~~

His leg felt like it was on fire, he was limping along, trying not to lean on Allura but rather use her to steady himself but if he was honest he was leaning. She was strong though, standing tall, arm wrapped around his waist, their arms tangled around their shoulders. He refused to think about the amount of walking, or the fact it seemed to be all uphill; instead he did his job.

Hours ago when they'd first dragged them outside, the first thing he saw much to his disconcertion, was Red hanging from the bottom of three Drule ships being flown over the mountain they - as slaves - would be walking. He felt a surge of hate, at the idea of Red being lugged over the mountain like equipment, yet at the same time he knew it was good she'd be over there. She'd be where they were heading, it made their escape a possibility - or Allura's. If he couldn't, if the prophecy was to set in stone for him, due to his leg or whatever choices... he didn't begin to comprehend half of what Allura tried to explain to him about prophecies or Seers. All he knew was one thing he was focusing on changing was Allura flying off this moon with Red.

He'd counted the guards after getting over the fact Red had been lugged, seven all together. There were about thirty slaves, including the four of them, and seven guards. Two in the front, guiding the walking, two in the middle, with whips and blasters and they used them when they felt the humans started to get too slow. Lance was forcing himself to walk faster than he should, Allura was pissed off about it, she kept muttering he shouldn't be pushing himself so much but she wasn't muttering at him about it so much as at the situation. She knew he had no choice.

He couldn't see them but he could feel the two Drules at the back were just as bad as the two in the middle. Blasters and whips, gasps and screams. Tired humans, and laughing Drules.

Sven was walking with Fin and the Seer Altea, aka, The Quiet Woman to the rest of them. She's spoken to Allura mentally, told her who she was, where she was from and what little she knew. Sven and Romelle didn't need to know that to understand she had a lot of say with the people. Fin was wary, jumpy, but with Altea by him he seemed calmer, Lance was sure she spoke to him, Allura said he knew her secret. Kept it for her. He sighed, he prayed Allura could help the Seers of Arus come out of hiding, he wondered at how a whole planet could turn against half of something that made up their Faith, their Religion. Allura wanted to talk to the Priests, yet life had been so crazy.

"Stop." The Drule's yelled.

They stopped, Lance swore because stopping reminded him that his calf felt like it was on fire. Clenching his jaw, he glanced around where they were, they'd reached some sort of summit of the hill they'd been climbing for the day. He was sure it'd been a full day.

"We sleep here. Now. Leave at sunrise." The Drule's explained.

Then they corralled the slaves into a group while they all stood around them, blasters pointing at them, albeit lazily. Allura helped Lance settled down his back against the rocky mountain the path had been against the whole time. Rona appeared almost instantly, with a bit of water for him, then she was checking his wound.

"How is it?" Allura asked.

"It's red, puffy, infected, it's noone's fault. You didn't have the right tools," Rona explained. "But we'll be gone soon, I believe between your friends and her, Fin is caving. Once he is on board the rest of the slaves will do what the rest of us choose."

Lance nodded, purposefully catching Allura's eye. "It'll be fine. We'll get to where we are going. They'll take over two of those ships they used to fly Red over there. Okay? And you'll fly Red."

Allura held his gaze but her expression remained, worried, unsure and lost. She shook her head and she glanced at Altea. Lance frowned, he didn't know what the Seer had told her, what she had said to Allura about everything. Only that she was a Seer and had called him Allura's King. He sighed and grabbed Allura's hand.

"What did she say to you?" he asked, ignoring the fact that Rona was smearing what they had left of antibiotic onto his wound.

(ITALIC)_She said that the prophecy is all about me._

Lance frowned as Allura's voice whispered in his head, she sounded confused and sad. Like she was given into everything and not at all like the strong-willed woman he knew and wasn't in love with...nope, not in love with. "You're flying Red home," he said out loud, he didn't have the focus to try to talk to her with his mind. It was too much with the pain and the exhaustion from walking with it, ignoring it. "You understand me?" he asked.

_No._

It was loud, sure and stubborn, okay maybe she wasn't completely lost and giving in to some inevitable something. But still. "No, Allura. Leave me behind."

"NO!" she shouted, out loud this time.

Rona lifted up from where she was using some old rags, she'd pulled out a bag Altea had handed her as a fresher bandage for Lance, and Sven and Romelle both hurried over. Romelle looking a bit pale, from the morning sickness everyone but Sven knew she was fighting off.

"What's going on," Sven said. "We shouldn't be drawing any more attention to us than we'll already going to be getting," he admonished. "Fin's agreed, he's letting people know now what will happen tomorrow."

"Good. Now tell this one, here, that if anything goes wrong with me and my leg, to get her ass in Red and get back to Arus."

"I am not leaving this moon without you," Allura said, this time in a shouted whispered. "I didn't come here to fail you," she added, tears falling this time. "I..." she trailed off, stood up and pushed between Sven and Romelle and walked a few steps away.

"Son of a bitch," Lance muttered and started to trying to stand back up.

"Lance," Rona exclaimed. "I really think you should rest the leg while..."

Lance reached out for Sven. "Sven pull me up, I mean it."

Sven shook his head. "I think you should listen."

"Oh, so I should leave Allura crying over there."

"Romelle will handle it."

"Romelle can't handle it," Lance spat out.

"I'll do what I can," Romelle said her eyes meeting Lance's. Lance met Romelle's darker blue eyes and he shook his head. "When you can't help, you come on back here and make him help me up."

Romelle nodded, then walked over to where Allura stood, her shoulders shaking in a quiet cry.

Sven stared down at him, Lance could feel the dark eyes on him and he sighed and met Sven's hard, studying gaze. "What?"

"Leave you behind?"

"If you have to?"

"Why would that cross your mind?"

"I have reasons."

"Why?"

"I have reasons," Lance repeated.

Sven threw up his hands. "These reasons related to why the Princess is even here? Going against Keith's orders, after making up with him after that gigantic fight?"

Lance shrugged. "Really, I find you do better with women, if you don't try to questions a woman's reasons for things."

Sven growled. "Don't try to be coy to get out of this conversation. I am not leaving you behind, either."

Lance shrugged, thinking Sven was going to find he wasn't going to have a choice and he was going to have to force Allura. He had to get that across. "Sven, if there is no choice, and I mean this. None at all, you will have to bodily force her to leave me. I mean this, toss her in Red Lion, make her fly her home. You have to do this, make her leave me on this moon. If for anything her own safety."

The prophecy she'd shown him, shared with him, what little he saw, it didn't show a rescue. Lance didn't want them both stuck here.

Sven snorted. "It won't come to that."

Lance shook his head.

Romelle stepped back to the men, she touched Sven on the shoulder. "Sven, I really do think it's best he talks to her."

Sven rolled his eyes, he held out his hand.

Rona sighed. "As his nurse, I'm not for this," she muttered.

Lance smiled at her. "I'll rest as soon as I calm the Princess," he said.

"Charm you mean. Young love," she muttered walking away.

Lance felt his heart fly to his mouth as she said that, but then he swallowed it down. It wasn't simple, his feelings for Allura, but he wasn't... he wasn't... He sighed and avoided Sven's eyes and limped, painfully, to where Allura was without even thanking Sven for the lift.

He saw a tinge of too much pink on Allura's cheeks, and knew she'd heard Rona's words too. He sighed. "So, uh, pissed you off, did I?"

"Ordering me around, yeah."

"I am your commanding officer."

Allura glared at him.

"I don't want you stuck here with me, we don't know if we even get rescued," he said pitching his voice down low enough no one else could hear.

"We get rescued. Obviously, there are too many things after we know about. Just in our journals themselves. I've seen other prophecies. That kiss..." she trailed off hugging herself.

"By the bench right," Lance sighed. "Fine, I don't want you risking yourself for me, then."

Allura shook her head. "I have too."

"No, you don't, Allura, you don't owe me anything. No obligations."

Allura shook her head, a few more tears fell and she looked at him, blue eyes swimming with tears. _You can't ask me to leave you because the idea of it hurts, in a way a I can't even make sense of, so will you stop it already._

He sighed, then he grabbed her hand and squeezed. She let out a long breath, then turned to look at him and then her facial expression changed from sadness to pissed off. "What the hell are you doing up?" she shouted and the next thing he knew he was back up against the mountain sitting.


	38. Chapter 38

**Authors Note:** As some of you know, A snow storm knocked out my power, going on a week and may last a few more days. I got tired of that, so I'm at Panera's and going to post what I've written with the Macbook before it's power got to low (there was one charge from my mom's handy dandy car charger in there). Lance4Forever and Cinderella thank you for missing me and the story :-D much love! This chapter actually would've been posted last Friday night if the site hadn't been acting weird, and Saturday if I hadn't been slow about it before the power went kaput. Rachel.

~~.~~

Red Lion had been in sight for the last four hours, getting closer and closer. The building next to it was the goal, but Lance had his eyes on his Lion. Sven and Romelle were walking in front of him and Allura, voices low, last minute plans talked over, repeatly for Sven's peace of mind. Altea and Fin were nearby, listening.

All the slaves knew their role, they had their rocks, their sticks and most importantly they had their anger; the plan was ready as soon as they got within throwing distance of the slave ships and of the main building on the moon. The building Sven still planned to run into to, to try to download files off of its main computer, to get some sort of sense of why this moon base existed, why was it a hub? It was a shipping port, nothing more, nothing less. They landed slaves, then they moved them - the walking was just another way for Zarkon to exert power, it wasn't needed. It was a way for the Drule King and his minions to enjoy the pain others. Like a cat playing with its prey before the kill.

Allura and he had their roles, cover fire, keep things under control. Don't do anything fancy, get into red lion. It sounded easy. It wasn't. The hair on the back of his neck had been raised for the whole day, his sixth sense was screaming at him that something was going to go really wrong. More wrong than even he and Allura could know from what little the prophecy gave them.

The prophecy showed the slave ships going away, Allura felt with slaves free, with Romelle and Sven's plan having had worked. Only not with Sven and Romelle on board as planned. Lance gritted his teeth against the feeling of his skin not fitting right on his bones and his calf on fire due to infection.

It wouldn't be much longer now, they were almost up the hill, to the building. Five more minutes at most, he judged it, as the Drules, whips hissed in the air making them all walk faster. The tension was felt everywhere and Lance looked at Allura. She smiled at him, trying to look brave and sure but he saw her fear, her uncertainty. He nodded at her hoping he looked brave and sure.

She nodded back a stubborn set to her jaw, he knew the feeling, no matter what he was going to make sure the slaves got off this planet and then her. Problem was Allura was thinking the same thing as him: Slaves and him. They could be the others worst nightmare in the getting the job done right and well.

What was the use of knowing what was going to happen, if he couldn't do anything against it, he thought, wary and tense.

_You don't know enough, my King. _

Altea's voice shocked him, it was light, female, airier than he expected the strong and solid woman he'd seen working with Romelle, Sven and Fin the last two days. He looked towards her, she was walking next to him. He reprimanded himself for allowing her to do so without his notice. Especially, so soon to the beginning of the revolt.

"I'm not a king," he said to her.

He felt Allura react, she was practically his crutch there was no way she could keep her surprise a secret, but she stayed silent. He waited for more from Altea, because he knew it was coming.

(ITALIC)_Not yet, no, sooner than you think. Though, I see you never liking the title, though it is who you are. Your love for Arus is pure. It's part of who you are. You stood by that fire and had your world turned upside down by a woman's simple question._

Lance misstepped at Altea's words, Allura tightened her grip, Lance shook his head quickly to let Allura knew it was okay, he was fine. Not that he was, but he was okay enough, to go on with the conversation. _So, I feel at home there, doesn't make me the king._ He thought it so Allura wouldn't hear it, hoped it go through, because he didn't want to explain things to Allura. He'd told her already anyway, but he didn't want her pressing, if she pushed, it might lead to other things...

_You know it is true._

"What?"

_You're in love with her. You have been for a long time, longer than I think you want to admit, maybe will ever admit. Fighting it is foolish since it's a fight you don't want to win._

"It's not true," Lance muttered.

_You worry for Keith Kogane, but there is no need. It works out. He doesn't see but then he will. His eyes will be opened in a way that they can't be closed and he'll understand the inevitable. And his own heart and her own heart, they were never truly matched. Love yes, ** Love **no_.

"You don't know," Lance whispered.

_Tara the love he lost, the love he thought he'd never be over. Yes, I know of her._

Lance shook his head.

_Allura opened his heart again. It's not to undervalued. Don't undervalue your role in things to come. In everything. You are not disposal, you've been trying to tell them, all three to treat you as such - you are anything but. You and Allura are Arus's future, you saw but a glimpse of a rebuilt planet...it's you and her. Without you two it never will happen. The two of you will change a few things about the future, it can't be helped, with foreknowledge somethings change. But one thing that won't change is that both you and Allura go with your gut... Your instincts. Never lead you wrong._

"Great, my instincts say some one is going to die, someone important," Lance said before he could check it. Allura gasped next to him. Altea met his gaze and didn't say a word to him in response, she nodded however and then she stepped forward, touched both Sven and Fin on the shoulder.

They were at the top of the hill. Lance looked up at his Lion, less than ten feet away, looming over them and he could hear water in the distance, rushing. He knew it was below the ledge that surrounded the flat summit they were on. The Drules were corraling them towards the one building, the two slave ships were in sight. There were people who could fly them among the slaves, Lance knew as along as they got on a ship, and off the planet, if they could disable the fireball mechanism they'd be fine.

Sven turned and met his eye. He and Sven both started to look around as they entered the building, they saw no other Drule's. Only those that had walked with them. But there was something off, they were being pushed past the ships, instead of pushed near them and it set off Lance's radar.

"What is going on," Allura asked.

"Don't know," he said.

Sven didn't like it either but he decided it was only for him to find out, he gave the signal for revolt. Chaos ensued. Instantly there was blaster fire everywhere, the Drule's were using their whips, but the slaves outnumbered them and while their crude weapons of rocks and sticks didn't mete out much power, their need for freedom, hatred for those who'd treated them with such cruelty for no sane reason for so long far outweighed anything else.

Sven easily took out a Drule by breaking his neck, he was the head guard and Sven grabbed back his own weapons, Romelle's, Lance's and Allura's, tossed them to the appropriate people. He nodded toward where they'd been being corralled, told Romelle to get the slaves to the ships, and yelled. "Get to Red Lion," to him and Allura.

It was chaotic, it was a mess but the slaves were now in control, the plan was working out as it should. Yet Lance and Allura glanced at each other, making eye contact and they saw the same fear. Something was going to go very wrong.

Nonetheless a plan was a plan, Red was towards the north, parked right by the summit's rocky ledge. Lance and Allura started to make their way over towards it only to be blocked by on larger, until then, unseen and unknown Drule.

He laughed. "Zarkon, he'd been afraid of this. Thought Lotor a fool not to kill you all on sight. He gave me clear orders, however. Don't interfer with the Polluxian Princess and the former pilot. But do kill Princess Allura, her hold on my son is too distraction. It's my honor to do my Kings bidding and kill you, Princess Allura." He raised his blaster and aimed right at Allura.

Lance shoved her hard behind him, hard enough that he knew she'd roll down the slight incline they'd made their way up toward Red Lion, enough that she could get out of sight, and out of danger.

"I don't think so."

"Funny, he didn't think you'd be an issue, McClain. Haggar, though, she tried to warn him. Said you might be a thorn in my side. I was of course given the go head to bring your head back for Zarkon to use as a new decoration for his throne room."

Lance rolled his eyes. "I'd clash with the decor, don't you think. Blood and gore doesn't go with my skin tone."

The Drule laughed, cocked his head to the side and raised his blaster. The fact was he had Lance dead to rights, there was no way out of this without doing something crazy. Lance of course knew crazy, and he was always willing to go with it. "It's always made me laugh how ridiculous you humans are when there is no where left for you to go; you're dead McClain."

Lance cocked his own to the opposite, moved his own blaster, down not up, and shrugged. "I'll decide that, thank you," he said and before he finished the word, you, he fired on the Drule's kneecap. Then he gritted his teeth, told himself to forget he was injured and tackled the guy, figuring if he was going to be the one to die he'd like it be brawling with his fists and not from a lazon blast.

He heard Allura scream, he sent out a don't worry, that he is pretty sure she growled out in return in a quick mental parlay. As soon as he and the Drule hit the ground though they were on their feet, closer to the ledge facing Fin with a blaster rifle.

"You won't take him," Fin shouted, holding the rifle in shaking hands. "He's the future of Arus, you can't have him or our Queen."

The Drule started to laugh again and rose his hand that still had his blaster, Lance did the same, they were less than a foot apart, blaster's in the other faces.

"I'll fire," Fin yelled.

The Drule laughed. "Not before he and I do, old man. Look at you shaking as you hold that weapon, you don't know what to with it. He and I will take each other out first. It's as good as any way to die."

"What about me," Allura yelled.

Lance swore, but he knew she wouldn't stay out of it, she was incapable. He wouldn't have her any other way, but he wanted her to run his entire body shook with the need for her to run and protect herself. Even as he moved his eyes for split second off of the Drule to glance at her with pride. She stood a few feet away, down a ways from where the three of them were, blaster fire ready, steady hand.

"I can fire fast, Drule. Aren't you supposed to kill me, aren't I the main prize?"

Zarkon's hit man looked between her and Lance. "Fine. Come over here, Princess and I'll let this one go."

"No," Lance yelled. "Allura, I won't trade myself for you so don't even try it."

"You will let Fin, go," Allura yelled.

Lance glanced over at the old man, he was shaking but he did have a good hold on the blaster rifle, his grip looked sure on the trigger.

"Princess, I am not trading myself for you either," Fin said.

"I'm impatient, I wish to shoot someone, I think I'll make it..." the Drule cut off and Lance felt the blue man hit his trigger more than he saw it, or understood it. He felt it and he knew instantly it was a direct shot at him. He closed his eyes, but instead of him a point blank shot of lazon to his brain was Fin kicked him in his bad leg and he stumbled back, falling over the ledge.

"You will not take the King of Arus," Fin shouted.

Altea appeared, with her own rifle, she'd be the one to fire, stalling the Drule from killing Lance. Lance gripped onto the rocks with his hands, cursing having to drop his blaster, thinking that Altea must have told Fin to do this to him. Prophecy wasn't so much destiny as crazy people making wacko decisions he thought. Watching as Altea walked up from behind the Drule pointing her rifle in his face, she glanced at Fin. Lance could feel the silent communication between the two older Arusians and then Fin took off running.

Altea held her gun at the Drule. The Drule laughed again and Lance knew he was going to fire, and he wanted to warn Altea, tell her to run, move; whatever crazy Seer thing she thought she was doing, it wasn't worth her own life, not over his, never. But he couldn't stop it, there was no one who could save her now.

_Try to have faith in what you know to be true_. He heard her in his head seconds before Altea and the Drule took each other out. Then Lance was slipping, and Allura's hands were wrapping around his forearms, trying to pull him up but it was useless. They looked right at each other and she shook her head. "No, no, no. No!" she shouted.

"Get in Red Lion, and go home!"

"No," Allura shouted.

"Allura, go to Red, go to safety!" he yelled just as he lost his grip.

His last vision was Allura's stubborn expression as she screamed no at him rather than about his fall.

~~.~~

Allura's hands had never felt so empty. She moved up from where she'd lain flat on the ground and looked at her hands. There was dirt on them, nothing else, no sign of Lance at all. She wiped at her eyes with the back of one of her hands, telling herself this wasn't the time for crying. She turned toward the bodies. Ignoring the Drule, she bent over Altea and looked in the grey eyes that used to see so much.

"You saved his life, or gave him a chance...me a chance too. Thank you." Allura whispered. "I don't, I still don't understand what you meant. Arus would have been lucky to have you back, as their Seer. I won't allow your death to be considered one that was in vain, or empty. It was hero's death," Allura closed Altea's eyes, then grabbed the blaster rifle, checked it and used the strap on it to throw over her own shoulder.

She started running towards Red Lion, she'd fly down to the River, go right to the caves, maybe if she hurried she'd get to Lance before he fell through the floor of first place of rest. She began to make the climb up the Lion to the cockpit door on the roof of the head, when she heard shouts.

"Allura, Allura!"

Romelle. She didn't have time for her, or Sven, Allura thought as she glanced over her shoulder. They were almost to the lion, their heads however had turned over to the edge of the summit where the two bodies lay.

"I have to fly down to the river, Lance fell," Allura yelled, then hurried forward to get into the Lion.

Neither Sven or Romelle reacted in words to what she said but Sven's speed picked up, he barreled onto the Lion and was in the cockpit seconds after Allura. "What do you mean he fell?"

"He fell over the ledge, into the river," Allura said.

She felt detached from herself. She heard herself and she sounded numb and calm. Too calm. She watched herself as she sat down and start the sequence to start Red. There was a slight spike of anger at Lance when she held key in her palm, the memory of him making her take it last night. Just in case, because she'd need it more than him if the Prophecy was right. He'd rolled his eyes as he said Prophecy, but he'd made her take the key anyway. She felt anger but it was still swimming around her not quite connecting with herself.

She had one sole focus. "I have to go find him."

"No, we have to get off this moon, while the firewall is still down and none of Zarkon's men are here. There is an alarm alerting him of what we've done here, the slave ships are on their own out there. Red Lion needs to protect them."

"They'll be fine," Allura said, a brief flicker of guilt that she barely felt because she didn't know that for sure. But she did know what she had to do. She had to save Lance. "Lance won't be, I have to save him."

Romelle made it into Red Lion's cockpit.

Allura lifted off.

"Allura, leave the planet and accompany the slaves we just freed," Sven ordered.

"Not without Lance, you'd leave him behind, injured?" Allura looked at him then, for the first time. Sven looked ashen and he looked down to the ground before he looked up at her but she couldn't really process his pain past her own worry.

"The two of you, you have these secrets, Allura. He knew this was possibility, and I didn't believe him. But I know his wishes, he wishes you to leave this planet, to go to safety. To fly back to Arus...this is what I will do. Obey those wishes."

"No," Allura said. "I'm saving him because there is no other choice to be made," she said. "Neither do you, Sven because this choice is mine, Sven. Mine."

"Allura, the Slave ships, this moon, we don't know how long we have to leave it," Romelle said.

Allura landed Red on stripe of rocky shoreline, the mountains surrounding it, the river rushing toward the three waterfalls, and the smaller brook that streamed out in between: It was all picture perfect how it'd been drawn by the Altea who'd lived on Arus centuries ago, the one the Altea who had died for Lance had been named for.

Allura took a breath and stood up, Sven blocked her.

"I will not let you leave this Lion, Princess."

Allura sighed, then she aimed the rifle at him. "You say you know he and I have secrets, well know this. I know he survived the fall, but I don't know how long he has past that, not without me going after him. I am going to do that, you can't stop me." She tightened her grip on the blaster rifle, her finger minutely moving toward the trigger, just to make her point.

"Allura!" Romelle shouted.

"Romelle," Allura looked at her cousin, meeting Romelle's gaze a small part of the emotional dam she had against her emotions taking over her mind when she needed to be control broke.

"Romelle, I have to do this, I have too, it's Lance. Lance. And there is no other choice for me, here. The options they might exist but the thought of them... It's this or I let myself die with him, lost and alone. Let me save him. I have to save him."


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"We are not of the Ninth Kingdom of the Drule Empire. We are slaves, who have escaped from an unnamed name moon. Please help us," a female voice broadcast from the lead slave ship.

A flood of relief rushed Keith but he wasn't counting his blessing yet, there was no sign of Red lion. "This Captain Kogane of the Voltron Force. We've got your backs. Is Sven Holgersson with you, Princess Romelle. Have you been in contact with Princess Allura or Commander McClain?" He asked.

"Sven and Romelle remained behind on the planet to go after Allura and Lance, they were facing off with an unknown Drule, Fin can tell you more," there was static and then the thinning voice of a older man came on the line instead of the woman's.

"Zarkon sent a hitman to kill Princess Allura, Lance protected her, we protected them both. Altea lay down her life for Lance, but he fell over the ledge. I told Sven that it wouldn't matter what he did, Allura would go after him. He should come with us, but he and his Princess they left to go after Allura. They are all still on the planet."

Keith swallowed. "The Drule?"

"Is dead. Altea killed him when he killed her, the other Drules, they are all dead too."

Keith nodded, his heart beating, Allura was still in trouble and it sounded like Lance was in big trouble.

"Captain. Lance, he'd been injured rather badly, a lazon shot to his left calf, it was infected. Also the ledge Fin is talking about..."

"He survived the fall, Altea told me."

"Sir, the woman Fin is talking about she didn't speak, we never knew her name but Fin... Fin's known her longest."

Keith closed his eyes, he didn't know what to think or what to believe. "Please hold on," he told the slave ship. He cut off communication to them and looked at the grave faces of Hunk and Pidge, who he knew had heard everything but had said nothing.

"Lance sounds in bad shape," Pidge said.

"Sven it sounds like he went to try to get Allura off the planet," Hunk said.

Keith nodded. "Pidge, stay with the slave ships, until they reach Arus. If we aren't behind you on our way back already, I want you to come back to this moon."

Pidge nodded.

"Let's get to that moon, Hunk."

Hunk nodded.

"They're fine, Keith. I bet they're both fine," Pidge said before he cut off his communication.

Keith hoped the kids try at optimism was right. He didn't know what to think, he still wasn't sure what he thought about all of this. One minute he was madder than hell at Allura for taking off like this. For taking off with Lance - again, on something dangerous. For not listening to orders. For not trusting him with something that she did trust Lance with. He'd thought they'd made strides in the night before.

The night before, it was three days ago now, but it felt like a lifetime. They'd been fighting, miscommunication was all around, they weren't seeing things the same way. They still hadn't been the end of the conversation but they were going to try to be more honest and understanding. Talk more to each other and not sneak around.

And Allura did this.

Ran off.

With Lance.

He'd thought three nights ago, his jealous rage about Lance had been stupid. Irrational. It'd been way to hide and protect himself from dealing with his real fears. His fear of losing Allura to death, like he'd lost Tara... their talk had made him see he had to face the facts about that his past with Tara was making him try hold to tight to a Allura. Allura who was not someone who could be held tightly too... He also had to see that Allura had grown up, a lot. That while she was still young, even naive, she was a woman now. She was brave, smart and she had good instincts.

Most the time.

Lance though... Lance.

Keith forced himself to breath evenly, he wasn't going to be irrational, not like last time. He was going to look at it objectively. Maybe he was wrong, maybe Lance wasn't a threat. She loved Lance, as a friend, and that he was once again a factor in her taking off, in her not telling him the whole truth and if it turned out Lance knew more than him - again. It didn't mean anything.

Lance thought differently than he did, she'd mentioned that three nights ago, she could say things to him that she couldn't to Keith, because she was afraid Keith make her go to Coran. She knew Lance wouldn't.

Allura wanted independence, she wanted to figure out a few things on her own. Keith wanted that for her, but he didn't want her flying off into dangerous missions... he didn't. This wasn't about his fear of losing her, this about her being the Princess. This about protecting Arus. It was fundamental that she be kept alive, she had a planet she had to rule, to protect. She was all Arus had. The only Crowned Princess, the only one of royal Blood who could rule the planet.

Arus was conservative, traditional. There was no other way the planet would survive the war without Allura in the Castle, wearing the crown.

She had to survive the war. She had to learn to sacrifice some independence.

Lance would have to get that through his thick head too, Keith thought.

Keith gripped the steering of Black as he they grew closer to the moon, he could see it now in front of him. Lance wasn't a threat to him when it came to Allura? Keith asked himself again, his mind going everything. What Allura wrote to him before she left, about why she left. She hadn't said it in the note, but his own intuition, the feeling he got in his bones that told him when things weren't quite right, or in a few rare instances might be right, told them she'd run off with the three of them on this mission, because of Lance.

_Arus needs you. All three of you. You, her and him. She brought you back._

Black's gruff voice fills him, just as he starts to descend into the moon's atmosphere, the words cryptic and off. The words telling him he's right to fear that he should be jealous, and wary of her relationship with Lance. Something that had never occurred to him outside of a fit of irrational anger, and fear. Lance loving her, or thinking he might. Sure. He'd warned Lance against it three days ago, in an attempt to stop it before it started. But her, Allura feel more for Lance. No.

Keith shook his head.

"Captain, I've got a fix on Red Lion, sending you the coordinates," Hunk said bringing Keith back to reality.

Keith nodded. "Thanks, Hunk. Let's land."

~~.~~

Sven watched as the Yellow and Black Lions landed on the rocky shore line and he braced himself for the showdown with Keith, that he did not want to have. It'd been five hours since he'd seen Allura. One second she'd said something that had left both he and Romelle's blood run cold with fear and compassion and the next she was out of the lion and out out sight.

They'd hiked as far down the river as they could before Sven realized they had to go back to get equipment from the lion to get down the mountain, to check the waterfalls, below them, in them... There was no sign of Allura. He didn't understand where in the world she could have gone.

Meanwhile Romelle continued to look pale and at times go green and run off to throw up. She refused to tell him she was sick, however, she kept saying it was a stomach bug. Then she'd eat some crackers she'd found in Red Lion's storage equipment and tell him to worry about Lance and Allura, not her.

He'd been about to start hiking back out to the waterfalls, when he spotted the lions in the air. Sven sighed. He stood. He waited. Keith was going to kill him.

Hunk made his way up to Sven first, he grinned a welcome hello and then bear hugged him. "You did it, you got all the slaves off this place. And hey, this place is prettier than I thought. Where are Princess Romelle, Lance and Princess?" Hunk let him land on his feet, eyeing him and Sven saw it then the purposeful denial that everything wasn't perfectly all right. Hunk was always the best at them all at hoping.

"Uh, well, Romelle is inside Red Lion. Uh, I..." Sven rubbed the back of his head.

"Where are they, Sven?" Keith asked, standing ramrod straight, arms crossed over his chest, glowering at Sven.

"They...well..." Sven looked at the rushing river. "Lance fell into the river, from up there," he pointed up at the summit the Drule base was located.

Hunk visibly shuddered, his known fear of heights kicking in and he shook his head. "That's huge drop, could...he...Lance is great swimmer. He's in great shape. His leg wasn't that injured, right Sven?"

"It was stitched tight last I saw it, but, I don't know...it was infected, Hunk."

"Why aren't you looking for him?"

"I was just about to go back out, I needed this," he kicked the rock climbing equipment by his feet, "to check out the waterfalls this river leads to three of them."

Sven eyed Keith.

Keith's skin had taken on a rather swallow pallor, he was staring at the river. "Three waterfalls?"

"Into another river, faster than this one," Sven revealed.

"We've gotta find him," Hunk shouted.

"Where is Allura?" Keith asked his eyes no leaving the river.

Sven sighed. "I don't know."

Black eyes were on in a matter of seconds, piercing and mad. They stared at Sven, Sven stared back and held Keith's gaze because it was the truth. Keith glared. He stepped forward two times and leaned into Sven's body space. "Where is Allura?"

"I don't know," Sven explained. "She... She begged me and Romelle to let go look for Lance. Then she.. she said something that made us pause and she took that moment and darted off. She's fast, you and Lance trained her to be fast and she's fast. She was out of sight before I got out of the Lion. I don't know where she went. She sounded like she knew were to go, if that helps."

"If that helps?" Keith repeated.

"Keith, I don't know what to tell you. She wouldn't let it go, I think she might have fired on me if I'd tried to bodily stop her."

"Fired on you?" Hunk said. "Princess, Sven, come on?"

"She had a blaster rifle, Hunk. She told me she knew survived the fall, and she had to go save him. Keith, that's all I know." Sven ran a hand through his hair. "Lance, Lance he knew this was going to happen and he tried make me listen. He tried to get me to promise to force her fly back to Arus. I wouldn't listen, and after facing off with Allura... I wouldn't have been able to keep the promise if I made it."

"He knew? She knew?" Keith muttered.

"I think I know how," Romelle's voice said behind them.

The three men turned and looked at her. She held up piece of old paper. "I found this by the command chair. I remember Allura looking at it a lot, while we were flying out. She finally showed it Lance at once point. It's... it looks like she was trying to remember some kind of Prophecy."

"Prophecy?" Sven, Hunk and Keith all echoed.

Romelle nodded. "It's elementary Polluxian knowledge, my ancestors, left Arus because they didn't believe in trusting the Seer's knowledge so much but Arusians did. I know there aren't Seer's now on Arus, the war probably forced them into hiding, I suppose. I heard horrible things about them when I was a slave on Doom from Arusians. But Allura, Allura would believe in them. This seems to be her attempt to remember one. She's drawn Lance at the ledge... Sven. Her trying to pull him up. Then she writes things... this could tell us where she went to find him."

Keith took one long stride over to where Romelle was a grabbed the paper from her. He looked at the drawing and then he flipped the paper. He frowned.

~~.~~

Allura stood still, her body smashed as close as she could get it between a boulder and the mountain's body. The two Drule's whose campsite she'd almost walked right into were finally packing up.

"Well, we better get back up to the base. Boss, probably got the slaves up and through by now. Wondering where we went, heh. Did he really think we'd sit up there alone with nothing to do?"

"Hell, he'd do the same thing we did. Take a damn break. This gully is great for camping, great little fish in that damn little rivulet that breaks out that river. Yum. We should go spelunking, next..."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Allura rolled her eyes.

"Hope, they kept some of the prettier slaves, around. I'm feeling frisky from all this fresh air."

"Oh yeah me too, me too."

Allura fought against the urge to retch at the thought, she covered her mouth and breathed purposely and softly through her nose. Their footsteps finally faded completely away. Carefully she poked her head out and there was no one to be seen, she moved out, stretching her muscles. She'd been stuck there for over four hours.

Lance must have gotten past them when they were fishing or sleeping, she thought because the cave she knew he'd run too from the smaller river, was right next to their campsite. She ran forward and inside it, making her way forward carefully, knowing from the prophecy the ground could give in. It didn't take her long, she saw the hole and her own stomach fell to her feet.

She then fell to her stomach, and inched to the edge of it and looked down, her heart lodging in her throat as she saw Lance on the ground below her. He was unconscious, he looked cold, alone, his leg was bleeding. She sighed and knew there was only one thing she could do. The drop was higher than she'd expected, she'd thought six feet maybe seven, but it seemed to be over ten feet to her blind. It was probably a miracle Lance was still alive, he had luck on his side, she thought. There was something about him when he'd been with luck, the way he flew, the way he lived, he got lucky more than he didn't. "Thank you, Gods, for that," she whispered.

She carefully dropped herself down the steep drop, nearly stumbling to the cold ground herself she landed, careful not to land on top of Lance. She then rushed to him. He was hot to the touch, even though he was shivering, and he was murmuring in his sleep - if one could call it sleep. Allura looked around the cover they were, and saw that their was underground stream running through. There were a ton of rocks from the mountain that made the cave work. She had supplies in both their utility belts, she set about making a campfire, she had to find a way to keep him warm. She had to restitch and bandage his leg.

Then she just had to wait Sven and Romelle, took out those two Drules and found them. Allura had hope they'd be found, after all, she'd seen prophecies this moment.

~~.~~

Lance woke up with a start, hand looking for his blaster, and lungs screaming in pain. It wasn't stealthy, or pretty and he didn't have a fire arm. Luckily he wasn't in any immediate danger, and he was with a friend and not a foe.

Allura was squatting directly across from him, lighting what looked like one of Pidge's Fire in Pouch that he'd made for their utility belts, in case they were stranded somewhere without firewood. She smiled at him. "Pidge will be happy to know it works."

"Damn it, Allura," he yelled. "I told you to go, leave. What the hell?" he winced as he sat himself up, and tried to get a look at his calf, but all he managed to see was a pristine new white bandage. "Did you attack me with a needle again?"

"I had too," she said. "I sterilized everything as best I could, of course, but... Sven and Romelle will find us soon."

"How? How the hell will they find us soon?" Lance yelled. "You, you fucking went on and on how you were the only one who could find me. Did you leave breadcrumbs?"

Allura frowned, sat down so she was next to him but facing him and thump his chest with her hand. "Stop being such an ass. I have faith in the prophecy and more than that our future diaries. We both wrote stuff about what happens a week from now. That upcoming ball thing."

Lance rolled his eyes, avoided looking directly at her because if he did he knew he'd give into being happy to see her and he couldn't afford to do that, not now. Maybe never.

"So we'll be found," she finished.

"Or you should go back out there and get them."

Allura shook her head. "I'm not leaving you. You're burning up, and earlier you were talking on and on about how Sven was going to figure out it was you who put the toad in his soup, that jumped out when the admiral was talking to him and got him detention. I never saw you so contrite. Who were you confessing all this too anyway?"

Lance laughed despite himself, he shook his head. "Keith, who do you think."

"Oh," Allura giggled. "It didn't sound like it was Keith. Maybe it's because you were all younger."

"Not so much younger, but yeah younger. It feels longer inexperience than its been in years. I'd still put a toad in Sven's soup. I'd feel less guilty about making him look bad in front of a Admiral though. But man, Admiral Lloyd was a bigwig, and he was pissed when a toad jumped up and landed on his shoulder ruining his dress whites. And it was Sven's soup, so Sven's fault. Damn, I never knew how Sven's parents got him out of the suspension that he was given, but they did. Keith wouldn't tell me, he said I had to live with my guilt in full. Including never telling Sven the truth."

"Wait, you didn't apologize to Sven?"

"Keith wouldn't let me. He said it'd get me into trouble too, that it make everything worse, I'd have to make things up to Sven so other way. Sven wasn't even onto me. Though I never bought that, I'm pretty sure Keith told him the truth. I got him a birthday present I couldn't afford that year, I mean I had to steal it, it was too expensive. Don't remember what it was even, but Sven loved it. I felt better."

Allura shook her head.

Lance glared. "You do this, you distract me with tales of my stupid youth, and pour water down my throat," Lance growled, holding the cup that was suddenly in his hand up and shaking it in her face. "Did you take Nurse Ninja classes?"

Allura shook her head.

"You should leave, go get Sven and Romelle."

"No. I'm not leaving you, plus, I couldn't climb back up there, even I wanted too. They'll have to bring equipment. I've already searched the area around here, it's all enclosed.

Lance looked up, seeing where he'd fallen from, then around. "How the hell didn't I break my neck. I still don't get how the piece of driftwood I managed to grab onto, brought me into the smaller river, rather than the toward the waterfalls."

"Little pieces of a thread," Allura sighed.

Lance shivered and he knew it wasn't his fever. It was Altea, standing there against a Drule more than half her size, dying purposely to save not only Allura but him. He looked down at the cave floor, drew haplessly in the dirt with his index finger. "Altea?"

"We're taking her body back to Arus, I'm giving her a honorable burial. They had high honors for Seers, it will be that burial. I won't let the Priests or Coran talk me out of it. We both know who she was. Her daughter, she is the one in teh underground, you'll have to get her for me. So we can tell her, so she can attend the funeral," Allura's voice caught.

Lance looked up, hand catching Allura's chin. "Hey, it'll be fine. It's a good way to bring Seer's back into the light. A brave one, a victim for years, surviving and helping others as a slave. Hell, she probably knew what she was doing... It's not using her."

Allura nodded. "It wasn't that. It was her daughter. I... If one of my parents was found to be alive but then died before...And the reason they were gone was person telling me they died..."

Lance couldn't move, he let his hand fall away from Allura's chin. Needing to escape her eyes, her expressions, and he looked back down at the dirt. He'd be angry, upset, he'd wish he hadn't learned they lived at all only to have them taken away again... Yet? He looked back at Allura. Allura, was poking their fire, working to make it bigger, her eyes were on his leg and he rolled his own.

What was she doing here? She was a mess? Her hair had fallen out of the twist she put it into when flying. She'd pulled it back into a haphazard messy pony tail, many wayward tresses flying around her face untamed. She'd taken off the top layer of her uniform, leaving her a gray tank top. Looking around he realized she'd be used the top of her uniform to elevate his left leg. It was while noticing that he realized he'd lost his own uniform top, and a quick look behind him saw that his was being used for his pillow.

"You aren't too cold are you? There was nothing else to use?" Allura asked.

"No, no, I'm good, the fire's warm."

"Good. At least you're awake and lucid, you were so out of it earlier. That Sven story wasn't the only one you know. There was another point when you kept trying to get up because you thought the castle controls were going off, and you kept looking at me and going, "Princess, I promise you, I won't let you down.' It sounded familiar. The water, new bandage and warmth must have helped."

He'd said that to her the first battle, when they still hadn't found the key for Black and Keith had gone out in Green lion. Pidge had been out there and they didn't know where he was. Before he'd gone off into the chute for Red he'd told her, he wouldn't let her down, it was awkward to know he'd been repeating the same thing to her over and over as she watched out for him. He amazed she thought it sounded even vaguely familiar, there was no way she remembered that moment. From the start she'd only had eyes for Keith.

Her hand was on his forehead, a sudden solid pressure causing his reflexes to snap into action, his hand grabbed her wrist but then stopped short. Their gazes connected, Lance felt spun and told himself he was dizzy from the fever. But it felt like it was from Allura. Her eyes, all blue and warm. A regal, empathetic expression on her face that gave away her royalty but also showed where both her wisdom and Achilles heel's would lie. Lance saw all of it and nothing of it but the beauty.

Then Allura laughed, nervously, changing her expression to that of a nervous young woman. "I'm just checking your temperature, you seemed to space out of me there," she said. "You're still too warm, you should drink more water."

"I'm fine," Lance said, not letting go of her wrist when she turned away to look for the cup he'd had a moment or two ago. When she'd got him drinking water without even him realizing it until the cup was empty.

Allura turned back to him, sitting down next to him, not acknowledging his hold on her. "You aren't fine, I hope they find us soon."

"Why are you here?"

"I told you, already. I wasn't going to leave you alone."

"Allura, you could have made sure I was found a million other ways."

Allura shook her head. "No, the other options sound logical but they aren't..they aren't...they felt wrong," she lifted her right hand and touched his right cheek. "I only trusted myself with your safety," she said, staring right at him, her teeth biting unconsciously at her lower lip.

He tightened his grip on her left wrist, leaned into the slight press of her palm against his cheek. He'd been going for the unshaven look the past few days, he probably was a scruffy mess by now, his outside showing his inside. His damn bad mood, that he hated he could never have what he wanted.

Why Allura even gave a damn about his safety. Him.

He swallowed a sigh and kept his eyes open, looking into hers, at her honestly was looking right back. She was stubborn, she was sure she was doing the right thing being stuck with him this cave, how was he supposed to fight falling in love with her, harder and harder every day.

It was impossible. Add to that she was too goddamn... "Beautiful, you're too beautiful," he said, his voice harsh to his own ears

Allura blushed, a deep pink and she shook her head.

"I shouldn't tell you that," Lance shook his head, he blinked, and then had to blink again. Gone was the woman in a grimy grey tank top and her white/pink uniform pants, and in her place was Allura with long silken hair and a blue negligee, the color of her eyes, the shade of blue he loved best, that she loved best. Lance swallowed hard, blinked harder and then the real Allura reappeared, the blush still dark on her skin from his compliment.

"I shouldn't of said that," he said, thinking he shouldn't be thinking it, or imagining that either as the vision of her in the negligee reappeared it seemed without him blinking at all. He swallowed but didn't dare blink his eyes, it might go away.

"It's not something someone gets tired of hearing," Allura whispered. "I never say anything back when I hear it. I don't think a blush counts, I stuttered out a 'your handsome' to Keith on our first date but... and you've called me beautiful I don't know how many times and I've never..."

"Blue is our favorite color," Lance said, interrupting her, tightening his hold on her wrist and he didn't know why he said it. If it was to stop her mouth from moving because her lips were to close his his and they were so damn inviting. Or if was because she sounded nervous and scared about something he didn't want her to be nervous or scared about. Or if he was trying to get them both focus on reality; the reality that they were sitting inches apart, her right hand on his cheek and his right hand gripping her left wrist.

"I know," Allura said.

"It's the beach," Lance said, and then he was there and he licked his lips, a voice somewhere in his mind that was still sane wondering how high his fever really was. "It's the only place I've ever found peace. When I first got of Nebraska and saw the beach. It was the where the sky meets the ocean, it's the same damn shade of blue of as your eyes."

"Is it?"

"Probably the same here on Arus, have you been to one of the Arusian beaches?" Lance whispered as the beach scene fled them and they were back in the cave, without moving.

"Never got the chance, I'm a Princess of a planet who's seen less than a quarter of it," Allura frowned.

"We'll fix it," Lance said, his mind taking them back to the beach, Allura in the waves and he swallowed. "Damn, I'm not supposed to do that," he said out loud.

"Do what?" Allura asked.

With the simple question she took the frolicking naked Allura, who was splashing carelessly and laughing in the waves, trying to outrun them and splash him at the same time and replaced her with the concerned, blushing face of the real Allura who was still pressing her palm against his skin.

"I'm kind of tripping, here, Allura," Lance said. "That, that was x-rated."

"About me?" Allura asked, her blush deepening. "I, I didn't know you still thought those thoughts..."

"Allura, I never said I stopped those thoughts," Lance smiled at her with a wink. This was odd as it was solid ground for them, he felt steadier if still in risky territory. But Allura was a risk, and he wasn't given her up. Crazy love feelings or not.

Her cheeks darkened to shade he'd never seen before and her head ducked down. "Oh, I just... You're always so supportive about Keith, and then there is Lara."

"Those two people don't stop the mere fact that you are hot."

Allura shook her head again, she moved her hand off his face, slowly it felt like it lingered for a second. "Water, you need water. Let go of me so I get you some," she said, tugging on the wrist he was holding onto.

"Hmm, you were so beautiful in the water, you're too beautiful," Lance said, staring at her. The slope of her nose, the way her ponytail was hanging over one shoulder, the frustrated expression on her face. The blush that in her cheeks from the visions he'd told he was having, as well as his continued compliments. Allura was modest, she'd blush at simple true compliment until she was 100 years old, he thought.

"Lance you need to drink water," Allura yelled, kneeling down in front of him, harshly saying it right into his face. "Let. Me. Go," she growled out each word.

"Feisty," he said, she was amazing, she was going to punch him soon. Either punch him, or kick him, he wasn't sure which one. Whatever it was it was going to hurt unless he gave in and let go of her wrist.

"Oh, I am going to kick you," Allura said to him.

Lance laughed, a bit of a crazed, I've been up too long or had too much sugar laugh, when he realized he might be sending her random thoughts to her head without his knowledge. He nodded. "You are?"

"Right where you showed me to kick Lotor, if you don't let go of my..."

He let go of her wrist.

Allura let out a breath in relief.

He watched her walk over to where the cup was, his heart hammering his chest and he couldn't stop the thoughts and feelings melding together. She was back in the damn blue negligee, beautiful and perfect waiting to hear him say the truth. He didn't know how he knew this, he just knew Allura was waiting for him tell her the truth as he knew it to be in that instant in that time...with his whole heart. She'd know, somehow Allura would know if he was true or not. She always did.

"I've been trying not too."

"Not to what?"

"I have, I've been trying and trying not to, Allura but I can't stop it. It keeps rushing at me, full steam ahead. Like when your rushing at top speed for the last turn of the canyon run and you want to start second guessing but you know if you do, if you do you'll lose speed. So you don't so you fly true... and this is... I want to fly true but I'm petrified. I mean, Keith. And I was never... Even though...but fuck destiny. But damn it Allura, I love you."

"You?"

She was right in front of him again, blue eyes, tears unshed, messy ponytail and closer than ever and she stared at him back, unblinkingly. He nodded to answer her question, he didn't have it in him to say any of the words again. To try explain it all again.

"Trying not to?"

He nodded, a lump formed in his throat. "You don't want me," he said.

Allura's eyes grew bigger - rounder - they filled with unshed tears. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but the only time they broke their stare was when they blinked. Lance waited, feeling he'd spoken his truth, he had to wait for her sort it, weight it, and judge it and see how she felt about it. He prayed it wouldn't change things for the worse...he'd take her in his life anyway he could get her. He wasn't too proud, he'd take best friend if that was all he was going to get. He was no fool.

He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, "It's okay, I don't expect you to feel the same, I don't expect anything to change," he told her. "But you were expecting the truth then, so I told you."

Allura shook her head him. "Lance your... I... You've been trying to not be in love with me?"

"It's impossible," his eyes fell on her lips. "Allura?"

"Yes," Allura said on a shaky breath.

One kiss had been the question, he'd asked her and she understood. It was how Lance's fevered addled brain understood it anyway and he leaned in and touched his lips to hers, his hands found her hips, glad she'd taken off both their utility belts - he knew from experience they could get bulky.

He felt a rush of air against his mouth as Allura let out a small gasp of surprise, but he used it to slip his tongue inside, to pull her move tightly into his embrace. He deepened the kiss and he felt her relax into it, her mouth opening, her hands landing into his hair.


	40. Chapter 40

**Author Notes**: Okay the Kissing, it has some consent issues. Lance is basically fever tripping and Allura is basically Kiss addled because he waylays her with it. Also, I don't think the rating has quite reached an M yet but it's kind of a Teen Plus this chapter.

~~.~~

Chapter Forty

Lance was kissing her.

Was the thought Allura had in her mind, but it was slipping away due to all the sensations that were making thinking a processtoo much for her to handle. He was holding her so close the skin of her mouth was pressed against the beard growing on his jawline. His hands squeezed her hips and moved up her back, one onto her neck, the other pressing her lower back, pushing her into him. She followed the motion, just like she chased his lips with her own, slid her tongue against his. Lance was moving, downward, and Allura was following him, leaning inward toward him, his arms around her, his hands closing in and making sure she would follow.

Air was becoming a problem, Allura felt it in her lungs, she needed to breathe, enough air wasn't getting through her nose. Not when she was sharing so much of it with Lance. He seemed to need it too, she felt it in his kiss and they both pulled back at the same point sharpy and inhaled deeply.

Allura felt like cold water had been dropped on her. What was she doing? Allura moved out of Lance's space and they stared at each other. Lance blinked and Allura closed her eyes and counted to three and told herself to get a grip. She had to be the steady rational one even if she felt - She didn't have words for how she felt.

His thumb brushed over her lips, her eyes opened and she found herself looking into vulnerable but very concerned hazel eyes. "Allura, where is real here, what have I been saying and doing?"

Allura stared back into his eyes and felt herself get dizzy again. A part of her wondered if he'd done a spell on her, did she have a fever too? His hand was falling away from her mouth, and a part of her wanted it to stay put. But she was Princess Allura, and he was Lance - so special to her, so important, she'd risked so much to be here, right now to save him. But she was dating Keith. The right thing to do was to refill the cup with water again, she'd dropped it when he told her he loved her.

Thinking it, made her hear the whole speech again, the whole moment and her heart sped up again and she reached out and touched his cheek. He looked lost, the most vulnerable she'd ever seen him. She knew he was going in and out of hallucinations during their conversations and they were about how he was seeing her.

She should get him to drink and get him to go back sleep.

It was the right thing to do.

"You said you love me." She stroked her thumb up his cheek where the hair line stopped and she felt his skin against the pad of her thumb. Allura rolled her eyes at herself for whispering the words, they were alone in the cave. No one to see or hear them, yet she'd whispered it. Who was she hiding from here? Herself? She swallowed.

"I do," he said, his normal voice harsh from fever and the enclosed space. He leaned forward, his lips brushed her ear as he whispered into her ear - a gesture that happened more than once a day, but this time Allura shivered. "Allura, what is real?"

Allura let her hand slip off his face, it landed on his arm and slid down and end up in his hand. Her heart was still beating from the kiss, she felt flushed and excited in way she didn't fully understand. She also knew that the kiss had barely gotten started.

"What am I wearing?" She asked. She needed him to see her as she was in the moment. It was suddenly very important to her, she be in her combat uniform pants the tank top. That she look an utmost mess. Not naked in an ocean, or whatever else he'd been seeing.

"It keeps changing, but your you, you're in your uniform, well the top layer is off, tank top, pants, you're utility belt is off, why?" he squeezed the hand she was holding, searching for comfort.

Allura smiled. "I, uh, I just needed you to see me."

Lance smiled at her but he shook his head. "I always see you," he said. And in her heard Allura heard the words he didn't say and she knew he didn't mean to send. _I love you_. She'd heard them and his insecurity about not feeling good enough all through the speech he'd given that culminated him saying the words out loud.

She felt her stomach flip and she squeezed his hand and pulled. Lance leaned forward. Allura took a deep breath and bent into his ear and whispered. "Kiss me."

His free hand was instantly on her waist, a hard clamp both steady and pushy. Allura took in a deep breath, he was looking her straight in the eye now, his eyes as clear as they'd been since she'd found him. A dark amber color and they were darker than ever now, he let go of her hand grabbed her face with his hand. "Allura? You're sure?"

_I want you to kiss me._

She told him directly, mind to mind because she didn't trust her voice. She was afraid of what it might reveal. Not to Lance but to herself.

His lips pressed against hers and she pressed back. It was easy. Easier than before because she knew the kiss was coming, she wasn't surprised by him grabbing and kissing. He encased her with his arms again, she was pressed all against Lance. Kept tight in a circle that was made of his arms and her arms, while also being touched, petted, loved. Lance smelled smokier with her nose against his skin, his lanky form was more muscle than she'd given him credit for and she knew his strength from hand to hand. He moved back and he pulled her back with him, kept them moving as one being, his hands pushing on her body, touching her arm, or her thigh, when he wanted it to move someway.

She couldn't stop touching either, her hands went places she'd never thought of going when she kissed Keith. Her hands traveled out of Lance's hair, down past his neck, his chest, under the tank top, skin against her palm for the first time. She heard the broken sounds his throat made and the mental thought of _ Perfect_ every time she did something for the first time. His hands skimmed across her skin as well, fingers, teasing at the side of her breasts but he didn't go further - and Allura couldn't tell if she was happy he didn't push or if she wanted to grab his hands and place them on her breasts herself. She realized then she was mentally sending him out the mixed signals of _Need more but...don't know_.

It didn't stop the constant kissing, the touching and whenever their mouths had to break apart for air, Lance never stopped kissing her, he'd kiss her chin, jaw, her throat, her nose and he'd was whispering crazy things that Allura didn't want to hear: _Not good enough for you, thank you, I know I'm not him._

And didn't want to deal with.

Lance was on his back again, head somewhat on the makeshift pillow she'd made for him, she was over him, they'd been in this position for what felt like hours, but Allura knew it could have only been minutes. Allura realized with a blush, as Lance's palms landed on the skin of her hips that her pants had been pushed down, but it didn't stop her from following the lead of his hands, as she made his tongue chase hers in their mouths. She was hot, she was more than dizzily warm, she felt amazing and crazy. She wanted to get closer and his hands seem to be telling her if she moved, just that way, she would be.

Allura moved her leg just so, and her left leg fell over his left leg that he couldn't really move and he pulled her up a bit and she ground down on instinct and she felt him. How much he wanted her, his entire reaction to her in one distinct place between his legs, and her eyes flew open and she bit his bottom lip in shock. And pulled away but not out of his arms or away from the sensation of feeling Lance's erection against her own center, through the layer of her pants.

"Oh," she breathed out.

"Yeah," He grinned, a wide and really doofy grin that made her smile and laugh out the nerves she felt. Then his eyes rolled back and fluttered shut scaring her half to death.

Allura jumped off of him, checked his heart rate, felt his forward, grabbed the cup she'd spilt somewhere around the time he he'd let loose with the "I love you, Allura," and turned everything upside down. She got the water into him but he didn't wake up. She then sat down next to him, shaking both because she was scared for him and still completely turned on, which was a new sensation. She hadn't known it would be a new sensation when it happened but it was and now she had no one to talk to about it, because her best friend and the idiot who did it were out cold. And she was worried about his fever.

She hit him his chest and sighed when it made no impact. Then she saw the mess both their clothes were in. First she straightened out herself, then started on Lance, but she didn't get far. She was going to tuck the tank top back in after she got the pillow under his head completely only her fingers stopped still when she saw he was still hard. She frowned and wondered why it hadn't just gone away, yet. Sure she was all still tingly, shivery and a bit shaky but it was.. all bulging there.

She blushed. Why was it the uniforms had to leave nothing to the imagine. When they'd first shown up, she'd spend the first two weeks doing all she could not to look at Keith, Sven and Lance's nether regions. She'd turn around, run the other direction. Hunk had instantly felt like someone she would never sexualize, Pidge was a kid. She'd gotten better as time went on but then Coran had realized why she was avoiding the other three. The talk they had had been awful, embarrassing and ended with her being given an anatomy book and Nanny showing up two days later. Coincidence, unlikely, she didn't buy their story at all.

Now there was no problem, if she wanted a peek she took a peek, no one knew. Unless she wanted them too, which had been never, she'd toyed with the idea with Keith a few times but never had afraid he'd scold her for being unprofessional on the job.

Keith? What exactly had she just done? Cheated? Yes, but... Allura shook her head, she was scared of the but in her head. It was a rationalization she knew that but there was more to it than just her trying to rationalization her actions. She knew that too. She also still had to tuck in Lance's tank top, and she was still staring.

Which brought back the moment she'd felt it with full recall of all sensation, of the solid weight of it, pressing against her and how amazing it felt and how it was hitting the right place in almost the perfect way. Things felt in the way.

There were a lot of things are in the way, Allura thought wryly, and she hurriedly made herself push the fabric in, her fingers touching Lance's stomach. His skin was like touching fire, she frown as she watched him shiver. She checked his calf, she made sure the fire she had going wouldn't die out soon and she curled herself up next to him. She was all she had for a blanket.

His arms wrapped around her in his sleep, instinctively, in a familiar way to the way she'd been wrapped in them a million times out on the bench by the lake, near her mother's flowers. It was Lance, it was safe, it was good. It was now so much more, but still felt safe even if she wanted to snuggle in closer - when she knew she shouldn't.

Soon, they'd be found soon, she told herself. The kiss happened, including the moment of back up and shock. The full prophecy fulfilled. The finding of them had to be soon now, so Lance would get medical attention. There was nothing about him having long lasting medical damage, so it would be soon. Really soon.

Allura had faith.

~~.~~

Keith suppressed his emotions, he refused to allow himself to believe that the surfaces of the mountains all looked alike. He took a breath, he looked from the shore where their were clearly the footsteps of both Allura and Lance. They disappeared where the terrain got rockier. Where he stood, Sven and Hunk on either side of him. Romelle a bit futher ahead. All of them looking for a damn cave they couldn't see, and the sun was starting to set.

He looked at the piece of paper in his hand again, wishing that the picture Allura had chosen to draw wasn't Lance gripping onto a cliff, eyes wide, mouth wider - most likely screaming. Keith breathed in, the fool had survived the fall, they had to find them now so they'd survive the whole trip. They were running out of time. Time for having light and time for when Zarkon's troops might show again.

"Keith, Sven!" Romelle yelled, waving them over. "Here, here," she called and then ducked out of sight.

Sven was a step ahead of Keith, letting Romelle out of his sight with two of his teammates missing wasn't an option for him, nor Keith really but he knew Romelle was more than a teammate for him. Keith breathed out, Allura was so much more to him as well. Lance, Lance was too and he didn't know what to do with it right now because Lance was between him and Allura. Even if he wasn't doing it on purpose, Keith didn't believe he was but he had to know he was in the way anyway. That he was causing problems whether he meant to or not, so why wasn't he backing away?

Keith pushed the thoughts away though the minute he walked into the cave, Romelle had found and saw the big hole in the center of it. He breathed out, pushed away every emotion that had snuck up on him in the short run to the cave, and nodded at Hunk and Sven to start to set up the lines. They'd brought climbing equipment, the notes on Allura's paper saying it would be needed. He walked up and pulled Romelle back, who seemed to be inching close to the edge, he shook his head and then he carefully made his way over to the edge himself. Falling flat onto his belly, he moved up like a snake and looked down. Lance was sleeping by a fire, but he didn't see Allura anywhere but the signs of her where everywhere. Her uniform top cover was under Lance's leg, her utility belt was near the fire, he edged further over the ledge and called out, "Allura!"

Footsteps, one, two, three, and Allura appeared with two cups of water in her two hands, her falling out of what Keith could only guess was a pony tail and she smiled up at him like he was the Sun itself. "It's about time, Keith," she said.

He stared at her for a beat, blinked, then told himself to wait until later. She grinned at him even wider; and he thought for an instant that she was as beautiful as the sun itself. Then she went down next to Lance, hand on his forehead and her smile slide into a frown. "He's too hot, Keith?" she said next.

Keith nodded. "Guys, come on let's get going, Lance needs to get out and into the Arus infirmary immediately."

He then flipped himself over the ledge and landed on his feet right by Lance and Allura. Allura blinked at him, then grinned again, she stepped over Lance and hugged him tightly. Feeling her in his arms, he forgot everything else for the moment. Everything, he just held her and knew she was the brightest spot in his world. Allura was everything that was good in the world, what he was fighting for. He caught her face in his hands and pressed his mouth to hers, kissed her and it felt like it'd been weeks and not only days since the last time. She stilled against him for a brief moment, he figured she was worrying about bad breath or something that didn't matter to him; nothing ever could. Then they were kissing, he pulled her a bit closer than he normally would, letting himself break his own self-restricted rules this one time, as well as Coran's. Lance might be in the room, but his eyes weren't open. Allura shocked him however by her hands falling from his chest onto his hips, and he was reacting to having her back in his arms, holding her again, happiness of her being okay and her being her and a beautiful woman quickly and easily that he had to push her back again. He pushed her back to the normal space he kept between them and moved his hips to the side so she wouldn't know he was reacting physically to her touch. He couldn't stop kissing her though, however Allura stopped kissing him, she pulled back and gave him a long strange look.

He looked back at her, then he grabbed her hands, kissed the palm of one of them, she smiled and blushed as she always did when he did that. "What is it?"

"Lance..." she started but she stopped.

"We'll get him home," he said and as he said that Hunk and Sven both appeared over the ledge with the stretcher. "See," he smiled up at them.

She smiled again. "I know. I'm just worried, he was having a lot of hallucinations."


	41. Chapter 41

Forty-one

Allura felt like a fool. All this time, Keith was aroused by their kisses, by her touches and if her hindsight was accurate it'd been getting worse - or better? She didn't even know how to parse it out in her mind, but it'd been building for him over time as they grew closer, as their kisses became longer, as their mouths opened wider and their tongues became part of the mix. He always held her at distance, he always obeyed the rules that had been given to him by Coran. She'd never pushed for more, let him lead her because she didn't know better. But she felt like a fool, because he'd been getting aroused and she hadn't known. Worse she hadn't felt at all the heat or the need she'd felt with Lance in the cave - was it because Keith was holding back, was it because she was ignorant of what was going on?

Because Keith would stop before things went too far. He'd have a reason to leave and he'd go. Sometimes it seemed abrupt but always seemed so rational, it never felt like a lie, and it probably never was a lie. Keith would always be sure to have a real reason to use to get away, especially if he knew he was going to be aroused...like Lance had been.

Lance. Allura let her head fall into her hands. She didn't know what to do or think about what had happened to Lance. One moment she'd been getting him water, worrying about his fever, praying that Sven would find them soon then he'd told her he loved her. No. She knew that, she knew Lance loved her. She'd known that for a long time, she'd known that since - she didn't know the moment but between the future and present she knew he loved her. He was her best friend, her Lance. He loved her, she loved him. She told him all the time. I love you.

It seemed so brazen now, how many times she'd looked up at Lance and simply said, I love you. It hadn't meant, she hadn't meant... She and Keith have never uttered the word to the other, not yet. She's wanted too, wished she could, wished she was strong enough to say it first but it's tradition for the man to say it first, for the woman to wait and Coran's enforcing the conditions on them. Keith's chosen to follow them. She knows Keith is waiting for the right time, whenever he deems to be. Allura believes he does love her, she doesn't have to hear it to know it.

Lance surprised her in the moment, but hindsight like with Keith and his arousal hip dodges and the amount of space he always keeps between their kisses and his rules about not kissing for too long during the middle of the date...she was such a fool. Lance's feelings, Allura sees it all, in hindsight it was all there, laid out in front of her. Him falling in love with her, his smiles, the way he'd take her hand, or touch her shoulder. All those times on the bench, in silence when their chatter would naturally run out and they'd just enjoy watching the sky turn from day to night. His arm wrapped around her, in the way he wrapped his leather jacket around her.

It was all worse than that though.

She'd been falling too.

She loved them both, she knew it now, she couldn't deny it. Only she didn't know what to do. She had planned for Keith, she'd dreamed of Keith, she'd fantasized about Keith, for years now. Dating him was her dream come true. She was officially dating him and a Princess didn't officially date two men. Also Lance was Keith's best friend, what would happen if Keith found out about the kissing, about Lance's feelings. But he'd told her, it was out there...

Allura needed to talk to him about what he'd said, about what they'd did, about... Everything.

She'd been told he woke up an hour ago, he probably knew she was avoiding him. She was stopping now. She stood up and walked out of her room, kept walking straight to medbay. She waved hello to the nurses, who pointed her straight to Lance's room and walked into his room, to the full view of him kissing Lara Wyeth, while Keith stood one side of he bed and Sven and Romelle the other.

"What the _hell_ is she doing here!" Allura heard a woman shriek, then she realized with horror that the woman was herself.

Lara pulled back, lifting herself off the bed, head whipping around to see who had yelled. When Lance saw her he physically sat up straighter in his bed. "Allura?"

Keith rushed over to her. "Allura? What is wrong with you?"

Allura sputtered but no words came out of her mouth, because there were no words she could think of to defend herself. She looked at Keith, he looked back her, concern and disapproval strong in his black eyes. Allura blushed from shame, confusion and another rush of feeling like such a fool. She'd never quite accepted Lara as a part of Lance's life, she'd like her as a woman, respected her for her strength even but she hadn't liked her for Lance. She'd told herself it was protective instincts, it was worry he would get himself hurt, even if Allura had never thought Lance would really marry her. Allura knew now, she'd been jealous.

Jealous the whole time and seeing them, kissing after Lance's confession of love, the way he'd held her and kissed her in the cave... It had felt like a punch in her gut and Allura had wanted to storm in and pull Lara off of him. Possibly tear out of some her beautiful auburn hair for good measure.

It wasn't a good feeling and it was still rushing through her. Even as Keith held her hand, looked at her with disapproval and made her feel shame for cheating on him, for hurting him even though he didn't know it. For going around and falling for someone else while she was dating her one true love...

Allura shut her eyes and thought help.

"Uh, hey, maybe Allura and I should catch up alone, guys?" Lance said.

Allura laughed, Allura laughed because he'd heard her, she hadn't meant to send it, but of course Lance heard her. She turned and saw his brown eyes staring at her, concerned. She was Lance's sole focus. Allura thought she really should feel worse about that than she did.

Keith squeezed her hand, she looked back up into his eyes. The disapproval that had been there was gone. He stared into her eyes, his own serious and searching, then he bent down and kissed her cheek. Chaste, sweet, gentlemanly. Allura felt the rush of affection, and attraction she always felt for the quiet, brave man Keith was and she smiled at him. She knew it was a wary smile but it seemed to be enough for him, for the moment.

"I do need to see you in my office later, though Allura. Bring Pidge or Hunk with you please?"

Allura nodded and rolled her eyes at the reminder that they needed a chaperone, she felt a need to go to Coran, to tell them she needed more freedom in her love life. Romelle's eyes met hers as she past her, her arm locked with Sven's, Allura gave her the same wary smile she gave Keith. Romelle nodded and said gently. "Find me later."

"Princess Allura," Lara said, politely as she passed by with a traditional curtsy; yet it all seemed highly sarcastic, given it was Lara.

"Lara," Lance snapped.

"What, I'm saying goodbye to the Princess."

Allura took in a deep breath, she'd been rude, for no reason that anyone but herself could understand - and she barely understood herself for that matter. She looked Lara in the eye. "I apologize, I was out of line. I was surprised to see you and I was worried for Lance. I doubt Dr. Gorma cleared him for much physical activity, or he wouldn't still be in the medbay quarters but his own room." Allura winced, her voice had remained even, she'd sounded polite but she felt like she'd somehow been rude to Lara nonetheless.

Lara arched a brow at Allura, then she looked back at Lance. "I was worried, I heard he'd almost died. Again. I was..." Allura watched Lara visibly pale as her voice caught, seemingly against her will. "I didn't like the idea of Arus without him."

Allura had force herself not to physically react to the idea, but a shudder ran down her spine at the thought. "No, no one in this room wants an Arus without Lance," she said, with a glance at Lance.

Lance nodded. "Everything good now, ladies?"

"I'll see you soon," Lara said.

"Great," Lance said with his trademark wide grin that made all women look whether they wanted too or not. Allura felt her cheeks heat, even as she grinned right back at him like she always did. She had since the day they arrived, just matched it back. She found it infectious and sexy, she'd just never admitted the second. Now she couldn't deny it.

As soon as the door snapped shut behind Lara, Lance sat himself up a bit straighter in the bed and patted the side of it, where Lara had been moments before. Allura sighed, she still kind of wanted to do damage to the woman - it was irrational, crazy and not becoming a Princess, she could hear Nanny in her head, and what was worse she agreed. Yet she felt it. She sat down.

"Sven said you brought back Altea for burial and when he told Coran that you wanted High Honor Seer Burial for her, he turned purple."

Allura's eyes widened, Sven hadn't told her that just that he'd made sure that Altea's body had been taken care off. "Oh. Sven didn't share the Coran part with me."

"Romelle and Sven made it clear the woman saved my life, so did Fin, he was there. Fin said he knows how the Arusians and other planets with psychics have treated their Seers because of Doom. Fin told Coran it was time for them grow up. According to Sven it was very convincing."

Allura smiled and looked down at the blanket they'd given Lance. there were yellow things on it she supposed they were flowers.

"I think he loved her," Lance said.

Allura looked up and met his gaze. For a second she saw the vulnerable open look that had been there in the cave and then it was gone. "Keith's angry with me, about the prophecy."

"I know. I got read the riot act for going along with you so quickly. I just explained I wasn't going to get between a woman and her faith. Keith got quiet after that."

Allura shook her head. "As important as it is to my faith, I don't think it will keep him from being angry and yelling. In retrospect I suppose I could have listened to you and gone to Red and gotten help. Or, told Sven where I was going, and thought of having the rock climbing equipment to get you out. But I wasn't thinking, I was..."

"Hey, baby, it's okay you got scared, you felt the danger of the prophecy. You pick up things from those things I don't think the average person can, Allura. As far I'm concerned you saved me, okay?"

Baby, he'd call her that before, more than once, always when they were alone. She wondered if he knew? Did he hear himself? She wondered had she ever really heard it herself, before today.

"I think this almost dying thing, two times now, right in row, I think it may have made Lara realize she really likes me, might want to keep me around. She may just give in yet," Lance said, a lopsided grin on his face.

Allura stared at him, the conversation had felt too easy, he hadn't asked about her outburst. She knew he wouldn't, he'd let her bring it out or wait to see if she did anything else weird before he called her on it. Now he was bringing up dating_her_ - Lara - seriously. "What do you remember about the cave?"

"I don't want you to worry about, so whatever they told you..."

"No one has told me anything, except Gorma won't clear you for space flight until you do some P.T. and that he won't let you out of here until tomorrow because you need another 24 hours of antibiotics."

"Oh. Thought one of the nurses might have told you I don't remember much past a few glimpses of you, and I'm pretty sure most of them weren't really you."

"Me and the ocean," she said with a shy smile.

Lance's eyes went wide and Allura watched in amazement as an actual blush appeared high on his cheeks. "Uh...damn. Did I say anything I shouldn't have? Do anything stupid?"

"No," Allura said, her heart pounding in her ears. She didn't think of it as a lie, but she knew he would think she was lying to him. He didn't remember and if he did was probably a hazy dream he'd forget. She knew he'd meant every word he'd said in that cave, that he'd meant every kiss, every touch...

She understood now, they would have never happened out in the open in the light of day, because he thought she didn't want him. Lance thought she only had room for Keith in her heart. He thought he wasn't good enough for her. Allura had thought she couldn't love anyone but Keith, she'd spent the entire time in the future saying it, shouting it, crying it and dreaming about it. She loved Keith. Keith was her heart, there was no one else who could get in there.

Lance had not only slid into her heart, he'd made a home there, he was there. She couldn't have a life without him in it. Lance had to be there. It didn't matter, she needed him. Lance was more than good enough for her, he was worth more than he'd ever give himself credit for. She needed to see him, to check in with him at least once everyday. Even if they didn't talk, and it was just a nudge of one shoulder against the other while sitting in silence on their bench.

"I better go get that meeting over with, with Keith," she said, hoping she hadn't let any of her thoughts show on her face.

"It won't be that bad."

"I hope not," Allura said and she leaned forward, pressed her lips against his stubbly cheek and as she pulled back out of sheer habit said, "I love you." Her eyes met his in the middle, her memory gave the words so much weight and she felt it in the air as the word _ love_ left her mouth and she thought maybe he did too as their eyes met.

He grinned back, he always smiled back or nodded back, he never said a word. Allura knew why now. He couldn't say it lightly to her, not as a friend it meant to much to him.

Allura turned and walked out of the room, wondering how she was going to keep saying it and acting normal around him. She knew she meant more than Lance thought she did. And how could she face Keith? She didn't know what to do, Lance didn't remember, she was alone in this and her eyes had been opened wide on so many things at once.

What did she do?

Allura walked to the rec room to see if Hunk and Pidge were there, since she needed one of them with her for her meeting with Keith. Thinking again that she was a complete fool. She'd been in a relationship for months and hadn't realized she was making her boyfriend need to run off to take a cold shower; while meanwhile she'd been falling for another guy the entire time without meaning to. But nonetheless. She and Lance had been as good as dating themselves, with no chaperone, and no kissing - she wasn't counting the cave; she wanted too but how could she. Lance had been fevered, she'd been surprised. Yet, she and Lance had still touched more than she and Keith despite it all. Allura thought and she'd at least seen Lance without his shirt on.

Poking her head into the rec room she saw Sven and Romelle, no Pidge, no Hunk, she sighed. She wanted to speak with Keith and get the lecture about how she screwed everything up when it came to the prophecy out of the way. Not that she believed she did anything wrong, she saw logically how it may seem that way but in her heart she didn't feel it. She knew she'd done everything right, as much as that would hurt and disappoint Keith. She chewed her lower lip between her teeth and cleared her throat.

Sven and Romelle were talking quietly, heads close together, both smiling a bit too wide. Allura was guessing Romelle had told him about the baby and she hated interrupting but she had no choice. They turned toward her.

"I'm sorry. Sven, could you accompany me to my meeting with Keith, we need a chaperone?"

Sven nodded. "Of course, Princess. Romelle, I will be back as soon as I can," he kissed Romelle's cheek.

Romelle nodded. "Of course. Nanny asked me to track her down in the kitchen, so I'll do that now. Allura we will talk soon?"

Allura nodded.

Allura and Sven started down the hallway toward Keith's office, which was off the control room. Sven was quiet, which wasn't unusual but if felt unusually quiet. Loud almost if a quiet could be loud, to Allura. Allura stopped walking, causing Sven to stop a few steps after her and turn. "Yes, Princess?"

"What is it?"

Sven sighed. "He's in love with you."

Allura swallowed and met Sven's eyes. "Keith? I hope so," she said with a sincere smile.

Sven sighed. "Allura, I am quite sure you knew I didn't mean Keith."

Allura shook her head. "Sven, Lance and I are just close, I know it seems odd to people. I really don't understand why, and yes we love each other but it's not..." she trailed off finding she couldn't lie about it vocally.

"Allura, I do not wish to put thoughts in your head. I just want you to be careful about your friendship with Lance. He's... He isn't as callous about feelings as he pretends. His heart is bigger than most people's though he pretends its smaller. If he gets hurt by you, I fear the repercussions."

Something solid and uncomfortable formed in Allura's stomach at Sven's words, at the serious and concerned look in his grey eyes. She was aware of Lance's heart though, she'd known that for a long time. "I know Lance's heart and I would never hurt him, Sven."

Sven stared at her. "Not knowingly, Allura. However, your feelings for Keith may..."

"My feelings for Keith or Lance are none of your business," Allura snapped.

Sven's eyebrows rose.

Allura ignored him and started to walk again, this time more swiftly. Too much emotion was rushing through her. Too many new emotions, too much new knowledge had rushed into her mind, she'd been blissfully naive about so many things, in denial and unaware. Now she knew, and she felt she knew too much. Flashes of favorite quiet moments, favorite moments where the world was just her and Keith, or her and Lance flooded her as she stalked towards Keith's office with Sven on her heels. She was angry and she was overwhelmed. She didn't want to have this meeting.

She tore open Keith's door and announced. "Let's get this over with. I'm stating right now, I didn't do anything wrong."

Keith and Coran both stared at her. Coran was holding the paper where she'd tried to draw and remember the prophecy. "Princess, remember yourself!"

Keith was looking at her, measuring her with his eyes dark and serious and she stared right back, trying to calm down, wishing she had known Coran would be in the room. Sven walked in and around her and went over to the side of the room, closest to Keith.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter Forty-two

Keith took a deep, cleansing breath. Coran was already on his nerves, telling him that they had to talk Allura out of a public hero's funeral for the woman named Altea. Trying to explain to him that a Seer could not be seen as a hero to the Arusian public at this time, they'd been shunned into hiding along with the Sorcerers of Arus when Zarkon's reign of terror began. Coran tried to explain it to Keith, but all Keith to hear was that something that had been instrinstinc to Arusian society, people who had been looked as Pillar's of the community had been ostracized because their portents couldn't stop years of death and war. It hadn't been their fault; he could unfortunately see and understand how the public could turn on such an intangible and hard to explain trade, as well as the magic. The planet had lost Voltron, it's greatest magical/mechanical weapon. King Alfor was barely surviving and then he'd been struck down as well, Keith understood the complexities, he didn't agree with allowing the prejudice to stand.

He did however have to wonder if Coran did haveone point. Was Allura was ready to face the fight she seemed to want to take a stand against? Looking at her now, her chin out, her eyes defiant and hearing what she'd said when she walked into his office Keith didn't have high hopes for the next thirty minutes going smoothly.

"Sven, I am here, there is no need for you stay," Coran said.

"I would like him to stay," Keith said. "He was on the mission we'll be discussing, I'd like his opinion on things."

"Very well," Coran said.

Allura walked up and took a seat in front of Keith's desk, Keith sat down right after she did, as well as Coran taking the seat he'd pulled over from the wall earlier when Keith showed him the piece of paper that held the Prophecy Allura had been following.

"I stand by what I just said," Allura said, as Sven took a seat next to her.

Coran cleared his throat. "Where is the original of this, Allura? I tried to check your father's tomb but the drawer wouldn't open," Coran paused. "I'm sure your father had some reason for that."

Keith watched Allura's face as Coran spoke. Coran hadn't been so philosophical about Alfor's tomb not giving him access to the prophecies that were hidden within it when he'd walked into his office ten minutes ago. He'd been quiet irate and concerned, very concerned that he may have allowed Allura to see things she wasn't ready for by telling her about the drawer.

"I am sure he did," Allura said and Keith did detect a sense of relief in her tone. There was something there she hadn't wanted Coran to see - at least. "As for the original prophecy. These are all old and delicate pieces of paper, I'm afraid when I was reading this one originally I was careless and it turned to dust in my hands."

"You must be more careful, Allura!" Coran admonished.

"I have been, Coran," Allura said.

He nodded. "I must say, why when this mission was first brought up did you not mention this prophecy."

Allura sighed. "I didn't remember. I read it months ago, Coran. I had started to try to redraw it's pieces, put together it's wordings, but it wasn't all that clear. I had a sense of the danger from it all, I could feel it and that made it hard to work on. The sense of fear for Lance, I had..." she looked down and fiddled with the fabric of her dress.

Keith cleared his throat. "So you stopped working on it?"

"For a bit, or that was the plan. Then their was the Garrison and us, my duties. We were fighting when Sven and Romelle showed up, I paid no attention to the mission planing, I was too worried about making up with you. If I had paid better attention..."

Coran interrupted. "You assured me you wouldn't allow your personal relationship get in the way of your duties, Allura."

"Perhaps that was a bit naive, Coran. However, I will do better in the future and I am certainly not going to not have a personal relationship so my duties will be perfect," she snapped.

Keith raised a hand so her and Coran wouldn't end up in a squabble. "What happened Allura?"

"I went to write in my diary. I kept my attempt at the prophecy there and when I pulled out my diary, the prophecy papers fell with it and that picture of Lance fell into my line of sight and the whole thing came back to me in a flash. Everything, all the words, the drawings, what I saw, how scared I felt the first time I read it all. And I knew Romelle was pregnant and there was another picture of her looking so ill... and I grabbed the picture of Lance, and I ran to my father's tomb."

Keith didn't like that at all, what had Alfor said to her that made her go on the mission like she did. Made her follow the prophecy the way she had. She had to have seen that there was a better way to use the knowledge to save Lance's life. She wasn't irrational, she was passionate, she cared deeply for anything that held life, from flowers, to mice, to the people she held dear. She was beautiful that way but she wasn't irrational, she wasn't that naive.

"Your father told you to go on the mission?" Coran asked, sounding flabbergasted.

"He told me to follow my heart."

"What?" All three men asked, her voice had been so low. Keith wasn't sure he'd heard her right, it had sounded like she said 'follow her heart' but he wasn't sure and it didn't sound right.

"Follow my heart," Allura said a little louder. "He told me only I knew the right answer, only I could choose the right direction. He couldn't tell what to do. I had to look to my heart and decide. So, I wrote my note to you, Keith and I ran to Red Lion."

"She got there before Romelle and I."

"Lance was there," Allura said.

Keith sighed, he'd talked to Lance already. Lance had told him what happened, she'd arrived, told him about the prophecy and gave a line about Romelle, but he'd known it was more than that but he didn't push her about it until later. But he'd let her go, no more questions asked. He said it was because he knew how important the prophecies were to her, to her memories of her father, to the Arusian life she wanted to rebuild for her people. She'd talk with Keith about it too, in small doses, she never went on long about it when the subject came up. He'd brought up a time or two after he learned it was her favorite subject of study, she always brightened up when he did but she also got a bit tense, closed off. She'd change the subject after a couple of minutes. Keith couldn't quite grasp why she did so, he was open to it, he'd always trusted in his own intuition, his own dreams.

"Keith has told me that Lance was very open to allowing you to come based on your claim of prophecy. I was unaware you were discussing the subject so much with the boys?" Coran said.

Keith watched Allura meet Coran's eyes. "It is my favorite subject of study, Coran. On the moon, I met a Seer, she was named for Altea, the very Ancient and Renowned Seer who made the prophecy I was following."

"Yes. Following quite irrationally," Coran said.

Allura's blue eyes flashed.

Keith cleared his throat. "Allura, you must see that you could have alerted me, or Sven and Lance about the prophecy, what was to happen. You could have given everyone all the details. We would have been ready to look for him at the caves, with the right equipment sooner. Pidge, Hunk and I could have been to the moon sooner. You didn't need to run off without permission at all, you could have come to me, or Coran the second you remembered."

"No," Allura said.

"No?" Coran said.

"No. I thought of those things. I spent a long time by father's tomb, after I spoke to him. I ran there only moments after Keith," she cleared her throat. "After saying good night to Keith. It was there for a long while thinking things through. I admit, I was short sighted in not bringing climbing equipment with myself, I could have changed that part of the prophecy... Yet. No. My heart, my intuition, everything within me screamed I had to go to the moon, I had to be there, I had to try to pull Lance up from the ledge and I had to be in the cave with him. It all had to happen that way. That is what my heart said. And maybe it's irrational and it makes no sense...but it is what it is."

"The prophecy clearly states that Allura chooses," Sven said, his voice low but clear. "At least, that is what Allura wrote at the bottom of page."

Coran nodded. "It was a Knowledge-Based Prophecy. They are the ones can only come true if one of the people involved has prior knowledge of the action and chooses to act accordingly to the prophecy. It however didn't mean that Allura had to choose to behave as she did," he looked at her. "Is there more to the prophecy we should know?"

Keith felt a rattle in his bones when Sven spoke and it got louder with Coran's words and question. Allura was biting her lower lip she was nervous and she looked at him and he didn't recognize the look in her eyes. It was older than he'd ever seen her look before, but yet still so young. Her inherent wisdom was there as ever though and she took a breath and looked back at Coran and lied.

"No."

Coran gazed back at her for a long minute, Keith watched with interest. Coran had known her longer than anyone, he understood the Arusian Prophecies better than anyone else. He had to know Allura was lying to him, what Keith wanted to know was would Coran let her?

"I see," Coran said. "I think from now there will be some restrictions put on your friendship with Lance."

"No," Allura said and she stood up. "And there will be less restrictions on my relationship with Keith."

Coran stood up as well. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she said. "Keith and I will no longer require a chaperone. Keith is an adult and last time I looked at Arusian Law, so am I. We still will remain on Castle grounds as you wish, and I will of course remain a Virgin. And my friendship with Lance will go on as he and I see fit because you have no cause, reason or authority to put any restrictions on it. So, will that be all, Commander?" she asked, turning to look at Keith, looking like the Crown Royal Princess she was.

Keith nodded, proud, worried and turned on.

"Thank you," she said before turning and leaving the room.

Coran stood where he was for another minute, then he sighed. "I don't know I will explain that to Nanny," he said, shaking his head. "Frankly, I'm a little surprised this happen sooner about the rules. I knew it was crazy to try to restrict the friendship with Lance, but Nanny kept insisting I try. I knew it'd push her too far." He walked out of the office, muttering.

Keith looked at Sven, held his friends gaze for a few minutes than said. "That actually went a bit better than I thought, but uh, I feel like she got away with being completely insubordinate."

"That's because she did," Sven laughed.

Keith shook his head but then his smile vanished. "He's in love with her isn't he?"

Sven nodded.

Keith sighed.

"But," Sven said and he took a long pause.

Keith watched him.

"I don't think he has any plans on letting her know, or doing a thing about it. He knows she loves you and you love her. You know how loyal he is."

Keith knew. Lance's loyalty was one of his biggest assets as a human being. You had his loyalty you had an amazing ally in your pocket, it couldn't be turned against you with lies or truth. It didn't happen. Keith also knew Lance's heart. He'd been waiting for the day for Lance to fall in love, real love, he thought it be a great day. He never thought it'd be with a woman that Keith had opened his heart to as well.

"It could get complicated."

"It could."

"Does she know?" Keith asked.

Sven was quiet.

Keith got nervous. "Sven?"

"I can't tell." Sven frowned. "I'm sorry, Keith. I really can't tell. One minute I'm sure she has no clue, the next... She's changed since the last time I saw her, she's growing up. She's stronger and she's bolder. I honestly can't tell if she knows or not."

Keith laughed. "She's changed since the damn moon."

Sven chuckled. "That too."

"I guess, I'll have to figure it out, huh?" Keith said, as he wondered if he really wanted to figure out if his girlfriend knew her best friend was in love with her.

"You going to tell him you know?" Sven asked.

Keith shook his head. "Not unless I think he's going to do something about it."

"I don't think he will. Especially after see him work that Lara woman."

Keith nodded because he agreed, but inside he was thinking that he still didn't understand what Lance was thinking with Lara. He didn't understand where Lance's interest in seriously dating her had come from. It started before Keith had even a reason to think Lance might be in love with Allura. No, Lance had fallen for Allura during their friendship not from the start of it but from the start of it he'd been gung ho about Lara Wyeth.

It made Keith's bones rattle.

~~.~~

Twenty minutes later, Allura found herself outside Lara Wyeth's door. It wasn't where she wanted to be. It was however where she needed to be because as she spoke with Keith and Coran something struck her. She had to tell the young seer from the Underground about her mother. That woman had to be at her mother's funeral. Allura was also sure Coran was going to corner her alone to discuss her plans for Altea's funeral since she'd decided to cut the meeting short.

She'd cut the meeting short because she hadn't been ready to have that fight and because Coran thinking he could put restrictions on her relationship with Lance as well as her relationship with Keith - it was too much. It was time for people to start listening to her. Though, she had to admit she'd been amazed Keith and Coran hadn't fought her more during the meeting.

There were a few things about the meeting she wished she could take back. She had wanted to lie about what her father had told her to do about the prophecy. She had wanted to say, Father told her she had to follow the prophecy to the letter - but she couldn't. The truth had tumbled out of her mouth because thinking about the moment had made her feel it again. When she felt she couldn't stop her feelings. Yet when Coran had asked her if she had told them the full prophecy, lying had come so easily even as she felt Lance's lips against herself again.

They could never know about the kiss. They couldn't know anything about the prophecies about her and Lance.

In that office she'd had two moments where she'd thought her world might crumple completely apart. When Coran said he'd gone to her father's tomb to retrieve the prophecies that were there, she'd been terrified. Terrified he'd seen her and Lance at the alter, looking at each other like lovers would. Never in her life had she felt such intense love for her father. She knew he had kept Coran from opening the secret drawer. Alfor was letting them keep the secret, to continue to make their own choices.

Choice.

Her choices, her choices made what happened in her life happen.

Sven had scared her half to death when he said the Prophecy said it'd been Allura's choice. She'd written it down, when she still didn't understand it. Altea had told her, it was all about her and she still hadn't understood. Coran called it Knowledge-Based.

If she hadn't made the choices she had she'd still not know that she had feelings for Lance that ran deeper than friendship. If she hadn't made the choices she did she wouldn't have woken up about how she affected Keith. Allura still felt lost though, she still felt she wasn't grasping something that was right there in front of her waiting for her to catch it.

She also realized as Lara's door opened if she hadn't made the choice to go the moon and follow Lance to the cave she wouldn't be staring into the startled face of Lara Wyeth and feeling a wave of jealousy that made her feel like a horrible person.

"After today, I really have no right to ask this of you. Normally, I would ask Lance but as he is stuck in a hospital bed..."

"Yes?"

"I need you to go to the Underground and bring me the young dark haired Seer who lives there."

Lara's eyes widened, she grabbed Allura's arm and pulled her into her house. "Shh, people might hear you!" she admonished.

Allura glanced behind her, there was no one on the street near Lara's house at all. Lara lived close to the woods, not close to the main village at all, Allura made a face. "There was no one out there."

"You never know. People just don't say Underground and they never, ever, ever, mention the Seers - people in the Underground don't even mention the Seers."

"Do you know who I mean?" Allura asked, afraid now that she might not be able to deliver Altea's last wish.

"No, but I know who will be able to bring her to me. I'll do it,' Lara said, grabbing a jacket. "Give me ninety minutes. Where should I bring her?"

"The kitchen door, please," Allura said.

Lara nodded. "Uh, why am I doing this?"

"Her mother died to save Lance. She'd been a slave on Doom since one of Zarkon's earliest attacks. This Sunday she will be given a Hero's burial as a Seer."

Lara paled. "You're crazy."

Allura stood taller. "Maybe, but it needs to happen."

Lara smiled and pulled on her coat. "Then I'll be proud to attend. Ninety minutes," she said again.

Allura nodded and they both left Lara's house.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter Forty-three

Allura found Romelle in the the castle kitchen, eating cheese and apples. Sitting in the chair across from her cousin, Allura smiled. "You've told Sven?"

"Yes, he's very pleased, though nervous about how the people of Pollux will react. It will be tricky, Bandor will be thrilled, our advisor's not so much."

"I told Coran today that Keith and I will no longer be needing a chaperone," Allura admitted.

"During the meeting with Keith about what happened on the moon?" Romelle asked, not sounding all that surprised.

Allura nodded, happy that her cousin understood. "It went better than I thought it would. The meeting. Though Keith would never say anything to me in front of Coran. And anyway, the truth is what they had to say was moot. I know I did the right thing, it was what I had to do."

Romelle picked up her plate, walked to the garbage bin and let the remains of a few apple skins fall into it. When she turned around she pinned Allura to her seat with a sharp assessing gaze. "You were quite sure the whole time, since the start of the mission. Determined and passionate. You said you would die if you didn't save Lance, Allura."

Allura's pulse rose, she tried to hold Romelle's gaze without flinching but her cousin not only had a sharp gaze, she had a wise and compassionate one. Allura felt her cheeks began to heat and she looked away. Romelle walked back to the table and took the seat next to Allura, sitting so she could grab her hands. Allura felt love and warmth rush up her arms through her palms as Romelle hands clasped her own.

"How long, Allura? How long have you been feeling more for Lance than just friendship?"

Allura shook her head, she couldn't answer because she didn't have the answer. "I don't know. I didn't know... When I told you I would die, I felt it but I wasn't really aware of my words at the time, Romelle. I heard it, I remember saying it but to think about the meaning of it... I had no idea. I didn't know, I didn't know until we alone in the cave."

"What happened?"

Allura shook her head. "It's not important. He doesn't remember, and it is not important. I'm with Keith and Lance isn't going to come between us."

Romelle squeezed Allura's hands. "This is what you want? For him to not remember what occurred between you? For you to know you feel more for him and for Lance not to know this?"

Allura shook her head. "What do you mean, how Lance feels?"

"Sven is certain he loves you, positive."

"Sven has a big mouth," Allura said and she felt panicked. "Has he told Keith?"

Romelle sighed.

"Romelle!"

"He...I asked him and he said, he wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he wouldn't be surprised if Keith knew already."

Allura's eyes widened. "Do they, does Sven know..."

"No. I don't think he thinks you have feelings beyond friendship for Lance. He took your speech as you being who you are, so full of passion and empathy."

Allura took in a deep breath, she felt as if every word out of everyone was making her jump inside her skin, and her heart beat louder. If it got too fast it was going to burst through her chest. Her cheeks must be red, from all the emotions rushing through her. She never could keep emotion off of her face. She didn't know what to do, she leaned forward and squeezed Romelle's hands. "Please, Romelle, don't tell anyone that I...about Lance..."

The Castle Alarm blared to life cutting off her sentence. She hopped up at once. "I have to go to the control room, can you go to Lance's room at the medical wing, make sure he stays in bed?"

Romelle nodded that she would and the two princesses ran off in different directions. Allura ran fast and she made it the control at the same time as the rest of her team and Sven. Coran was the main computer screen and what they saw wasn't a robeast, or any ships in the sky from Doom attacking but what looked like a blast in the main village in the middle of the shopping square.

"What happened?" Keith demanded.

"I am trying to understand the information coming through, Captain," Coran said. "It appears that someone set off a bomb at a local shopping center."

Allura shook her head and she gasped. "Oh, god. No, oh no," she said. It was starting, and it was also a cue she and Lance had committed to memory after a tour of the future Castle of Lions. Something else far worse was going to happen today. Only, something didn't make sense and she didn't understand it, because her and Lance had read about it all in entries in her diary and his journal. Their been no mention of his leg, or him being off flight duty; at least not in her diary. He'd said nothing to her about it being in his, she frowned, it be like him to keep that from her. It'd be like any one of them, she thought looking at the five men she was standing with. Lance was grounded yet history had been clear, he'd flown in the upcoming attack.

"I'm here," his voice said, bravado covering the fact he was in pain. She whipped around and glared at him.

Romelle came up behind him. "I couldn't stop him, he's fast despite his leg."

Keith, Sven, Pidge and Hunk all just shrugged.

"What's happening?" Lance asked.

"Coran?" Keith pushed.

Coran pulled off the headphones he'd been listening to reports from soldiers at the scene with and he frowned. "A group of people calling themselves the Arielists have bombed the earthling bar Shooters in the local shopping square and claimed it is their warning shot. They will not allow Non-Royal Blood to enter into Arusian's Royal Line, Princess Allura must cease and desist to date Captain Kogane."

Keith alarmed, hurried to the main controls and grabbed the headphones and started to demand to know about injuries and if anyone was critical. Allura saw the guilt in the way his whole body became more rigid, and she couldn't blame him. She, however, blamed the Arielists - but she knew their history more than he did. Maybe it'd been cheating but she and Lance hadn't been able to help themselves after seeing what the scientist leader in the future had been capable of. It was only in the future that the Arielist had gained any real power that they posed a threat to the King. Before that they'd always been a smaller, fringe group. Causing small doses of chaos and never anything else.

Keith would arrest the couple responsible, a young married couple. They'd spend a month in the Castle of Lions jail cells awaiting their trial and then go on trial for the terrorist act and get a minimum of two years in a real Arusian jail. They would gain a few more followers, but nothing that would be a huge threat, nothing that the Castle soldiers and the Voltron Force couldn't handle with minimum security.

"Good, good, hold onto them. Hunk, come with me, we're going into town to bring in the two people responsible for this," Keith said.

"No," Lance ordered. "You can't leave the castle, Keith."

"What?" Keith snapped. "Lance we have..."

"I mean, let the soldiers on the scene bring them in Keith. You should stay here," Lance said, trying to sound less authoritative for once. Usually when he argued with Keith about orders he got into his face but Lance needed Keith to listen to him, so he was trying a different tactic for once.

Allura's heart was pounding, it was important Keith listen. The lives of an entire Arusian village depended on it. 1,106 to be exact. All because Hunk and Keith were out of the Castle and when the town of Cordelia would be the center of a robeast attack from Doom and they couldn't stop it in time with only three lions. She bit her lip and did the only thing she could think of doing.

"A Seer told me about an attack, that it would be soon, that something woudl take two pilots out of the castle and cause them to be late to a great battle that would cause over a thousand lives. I met her in the Underground. Lara Wyeth is bringing her to the Castle, they are probably here by now. I told Lara to bring to the kitchen door... She is Altea's daughter that is why I had Lara retrieve her for me."

Coran's hand flew to his chest and grabbed the back of his chair at the main control panel where he stood. "The Underground. When, how, what, that is no place for you, Princess!"

"It's no place for any Arusian," both she and Lance spat out at him in unison.

"I'll get them," they said again in unison and started to turn around.

Allura grabbed Lance's arm. "You're going back to the hospital. I'll fly Red Lion, Sven can fly Blue."

Lance glared at her.

"You heard me! Romelle, please?" she looked at her cousin with imploring eyes then quickly turned back to Keith and the others. "I'll get her, she can tell you, Doom's going to attack. Keith, please let the guards handle it. She told both me and Lance about it, when we were there. I swear it."

"She did, Keith," Lance said over his shoulder, before he let Romelle pull him out of the room. Allura, be easy on the throttle okay, Blue might be faster but she's not as feisty as Red okay?" he added quickly.

Allura rolled her eyes. "I know," she said following him out of the control room not waiting for response from Keith.

"You've been getting cocky, you're not ready to be as cocky as me," Lance said, as Romelle pulled him down one hallway.

Allura barely heard him as she went back towards the kitchen. It was as she entered the room she realized she'd barely paid attention to Keith, to see if he bought the lie, to see if he understood how much more important the upcoming attack was then his guilty conscience. She worried too that Coran was glowering, and asking Keith about how she and Lance had been to the Underground and why he didn't know about this. She prayed his wisdom was winning out over his overprotectiveness and Coran realized it wasn't time to be asking.

She also hoped that the Seer knew of the battle, and if she didn't she would willing to lie about it. Allura wasn't letting the people of the village of Cordelia die, not this time around, not if she could stop it. She couldn't.

As she burst open the door to the back staircase, she found herself staring into the wise and old eyes of the gray haired male Seer she'd met in Underground, the one who had called himself Tarus.

"I am here because you need me to tell of the battle from Doom, in the Northern Village of Cordelia, the one I mentioned to you and the King er Commander McClain..."

"Did someone say King?" Lara muttered, coming up the steps behind the Seer, with the young woman Allura requested.

Allura closed her eyes and counted to three. "Please don't refer to Lance as..." she whispered to Tarus.

"Of course Princess, you're following your path. As you must, I see as I see but never would I presume to know your mind. Especially, since Battles is my speciality. It's this dear young one's duty to see your possible futures, not mine," he grasped the dark haired girl's hand lovingly.

"Right, uh, let's just get to the control room, now please..." Allura said. "I don't want Keith's guilt to make him leave the Castle, and it might be too late..." Allura led the three of them out of the kitchen and back down the hall.

"Lance, please will you turn around."

"What if he left, Romelle, what if he left. Then I can help by flying a lion, can't I. Allura can fly Black if he did, and I'll fly Red. Four is better than only three."

Allura growled when she saw him, blue eyes flashing.

"Later, yell at me later," Lance yelled at her. "I'm not letting that village die."

All four of them run into the control room to see Sven holding onto Keith's arm. "Keith, wait, just wait to see if Allura's Seer is genuine, if there is going to be attack they are right you need to be here."

"People have been injured because..."

"Because a couple of crazies are idiots," Lance yelled, a bit too loudly but it announced his, Romelle's and Allura's return, with the two Seers.

"Everyone this is Tarus and..." she looked at the young woman, the Seer who she was sure was about her own age, her dark hair long and her face mostly concealed by the cloak she was wearing. "I'm sorry."

"My name isn't of import at this time, Princess. Tarus should tell them of the battle."

"Yes, I should. Coran, is nice to see you again," Tarus said, nodding his head in hello toward Coran. Coran nodded back but he couldn't quite meet the Seer's eyes. Allura felt disappointed in her guardian and advisor. Coran knew Tarus personally, the he had to know about Tarus hiding in the Underground.

"In less than fifteen minutes a robest coffin will land within a mile of the northern village of Cordelia. In my vision of the attack I saw various outcomes - one of which had the Hero of Arus and Hunk of Yellow Lion away from the Castle, and before they could get to village to join the rest of the team the town had been massacred. The other two outcomes were much brighter."

"Fine. I'm still going to arrest the terrorists, Lance or Allura can fly Black," Keith said.

"I wouldn't suggest that, Captain Kogane. If you the Hero of Arus does not fly Black Lion...then the...Well Lance of Red, will have an infection that will make him quite ill for much longer. Though, of course either way the robeast will be dispatched quickly."

"I'll fly Red," Lance said.

Keith nodded.

"No!" Allura, Lara and Romelle yelled in unison.

Allura glared at Keith, he met her gaze, she saw shame there but he still looked resolute about going into the town to perform the arrest. She stepped forward, to try to take his hand and pull him to the side to tell him he shouldn't feel guilt about an act of terrorism. Keith turned away from her before she could get a hold of him and not knowing what to do, she looked toward Romelle for help.

Romelle who was having a silent conversation with Sven, gave up on the glaring match and bodily shoved Sven at Keith.

Sven sighed. "Uh, Keith. I think that Romelle, Princess Allura and Ms. Wyeth..."

"You can call me Lara, sweetheart."

Romelle shot Lara a look.

"I think they are saying that they think you should put Lance's health over your misguided guilty conscience. If you allow the terrorists actions to become personal to you, it's like letting them win."

"I'm fine," Lance said. "I can fly."

Allura turned, walked back over to where he stood and pushed him square on the chest. She felt save doing so only because Pidge and Hunk were standing right behind him. Lance staggered backwards, completely lost his balanced and would have fallen on his ass if his two friends hadn't caught him by his flailing arms.

"Uh, huh," she said.

Lara stifled a giggle.

Keith stood still, quiet, staring at Lance, who eyed him back, silently still insisting he could fly. Allura knew Lance flew this mission before, in another timeline... this was one of those times she tried not think about her time travel too much, it was headache inducing. She also knew he would be fine if he did, but why should he get an infection and be off duty longer. Keith was a good man. Noble, sometimes too noble and he cared deeply about right and wrong. It was why people hurt by the Arielists actions in using their names as the reasons was killing him inside. She understood his guilt but Sven was right it was misguided.

"Keith," she said and he looked finally at her. "We aren't to blame for the Arielists, but do you really want to be to blame for Lance being not grounded for another week?"

"He whines, non stop, he never shuts up," Hunk pointed out.

"And he gets extra cranky if he can't fly," Pidge said. "Last time he couldn't fly, it was only for a day, but he got so moody, he almost killed Nanny over an argument about butter at breakfast."

"I didn't almost kill her," Lance muttered.

"You pulled out your blaster."

"It wasn't about the butter, and I wasn't aiming for Nanny!"

"Why did you have a blaster at breakfast?" Lara asked.

Allura raised her eyebrow at Keith. "He was aiming for you," she reminded.

Keith nodded.

"He was wrong," Hunk pointed out, just as the warning siren that there were intruders in their airspace went off at the control panel. Keith turned to Coran. "Ask the soldiers holding the guilty parties to bring them in. Sven take blue lion, Allura you're in Red. Just be easy on the throttle with her, I know you're used to a faster lion but Red's flies harder than Blue."


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter Forty-four

Lance could feel the strange tension between Coran and Tarus, despite the fact they were across the room from the each other. He shot a look longingly at the main screen as he watched all five lions fly toward battle. He itched to be out there, doing his job, protecting Arus.

A hand touching his arm, he turned expecting Lara's green eyes and instead he found himself looking into chocolate brown ones. It was the young woman, the Young One, he thought they'd called her down in the underground. Altea's daughter, the one Allura had promised to tell Altea's bravery to, he felt guilt rush in a way it never had in his life before. This young woman hadn't seen her mother since she was a mere child and here he was the reason her mother was dead instead of returned to her.

"It's not your fault, Commander. Could you take me too her?"

"He should go back to his room," Romelle said, walking back up to him, after waiting until she could no longer see Sven in the Blue lion on the screen. At least for now, Lance doubted Romelle wished to see the battle. "I should take you back, Allura made me promise, more than once."

Lance rolled his eyes. "I'm taking her to see her mother's body."

"I'll make sure he doesn't fall over," Lara said, from behind him, sliding her arm so it linked with his arm. "I'll get him back to the hospital bed too," she added.

Romelle sighed, shook her head and walked off.

"Tarus, are you coming?" the young girl asked.

"Not yet, Young One, go and see her, say your final goodbyes. I know the Princess has invited us to the ceremony, but I feel it'd best we stay in the dark for now. However, I would like to talk to my old friend..." Tarus looked directly at Coran the whole time he spoke.

Lance looked at the two older men and felt a cold shiver; leaving a Seer alone with Coran? He wasn't sure, he wasn't sure of it at all. "Uh," he said.

Tarus held up his hand. "Your wishes, Commander, are mine to follow."

The hard C of Commander had scared the ever-living shit out of Lance, for a brief terrifying second. The actual sentence didn't do much to make him feel better. Tarus sounded too much like he like too orders from Lance, for his liking. "Just, uh, you two behave," he said, this time looking at Coran.

Coran leveled his gaze at Lance, looking at Lance like he'd never seen him before. "You took Allura to the Underground?"

"I did."

"I see," Coran said. "Has she shown you the prophecies in Alfor's tomb, Lance?"

Lance decided to lie. "No."

"Oh. I see, well then, you should go allow the young lady to grieve her mother. The funeral, the funeral will take much planning by myself and Captain Kogane tonight."

Lance nodded and turned, wincing, his leg hurt him more than he wanted to admit, but he wasn't going to show it in front of Lara and another beautiful woman, if he could help it. He still wasn't sure about leaving Coran alone with Tarus. He couldn't read Coran, it was always hard to read Coran when he got quiet; the old man had secrets, he was never fully forthcoming. Thinking back on it now, Lance really wondered why it'd been Allura who'd had to tell him Coran probably already knew all about the Underground when he first found out about it. Speaking of Allura, Lance couldn't help himself.

"She isn't going to let it stay hidden," he said.

Coran sighed.

"I agree with her," he added.

Coran pinned Lance with a hard gaze. "And your opinion means what exactly, Lance, in the scheme of things. You can put ideas in her head, you can lead to her more reckless acts in the Lions and combat, you can be part of having her grow into a woman that isn't proper for Arusian Royalty; but in the end. You are nothing. In the end you are all just boys from Earth."

"Coran!" Romelle gasped from the door where she was walking back in with Dr. Gorma and a nurse.

Lance stared right at Coran. "Would you dare say that to Keith? To Allura?"

"I will when the time comes to tell them. I'm telling you now, because you'll need to be told again, I am sure. You're harder headed."

Harder headed was right, he broke free of Lara, he stepped away from them, ignored Romelle's whispered don't and crossed the room until he was in Coran's face. It took longer than he would like, his leg was killing him, he felt weaker than he'd like to admit - Allura had a point about him not flying, he supposed, but nothing was stopping him from saying this.

"You love her, you raised her. I get it, you and Nanny, the both of you have gotten too close. I think you've forgotten who King Alfor was, what He stood for. You really think he'd want Allura in pink dresses trapped in a gilded cage, trapped in archaic rules and traditions. You think he went through all he did to bring Voltron back to life, to built this Castle of Lions, this Castle with it's defensives and it's power - if he wanted Arus to remain stuck in its past while this place stood shining as a beacon of a better future. I guarantee you Coran, Alfor, didn't want the Underground, he didn't want Allura to be a figure head and he sure as hell knew that us Earth Boys were the future of this damn planet. So fuck off with the reminding me that I mean nothing when Allura tells you whats for."

"How dare you suppose to speak for my King!"

"Ahem," the young woman in the cloak cleared her throat.

Lance whirled, which might not have been a great idea, but Gorma was there grabbing him, thankfully but he pointed at the Seer and yelled. "Don't even think it."

She moved the cloak from her face, smiled at him; a smile Lance found way to understanding given the circumstances of their meeting again, of why she was here and how the last thing he wanted was her standing up for him - especially with her brand of future truth.

"All I was going to say is that, Commander McClain's future is clear. His blood is more Arusian than Terran."

Coran huffed.

"It's true," she said. "I am unpracticed but I know fact from possibilities, Mr. Coran, and Lance Charles McClain speaks to Arus and therefore for her."

"Speaks to Arus."

"You will see. He will speak to Arus. Her fire, her water, her earth, her wind, her energy itself. You already know of some it, he knows the heart of the Five Lions does he not? They who are one with the five elements I've mentions. He knows who flies true, for who and this is only the beginning."

Coran huffed again. "He's shown some ability to know who can fly what lion, but it's guesswork."

"Then ask him."

"What?"

"Ask him what Lion will fly for you. Because it is only one is it not?"

Tarus laughed.

Lance stared at her. "What are you doing?"

"You can answer it."

"Oh really, cause my head feels rather empty of the answer you know," Lance muttered.

"That is because you are looking at me, and no lion will fly for me. Much like no lion will fly for Romelle. Or Lara. You are staring at the wrong end of the room. Though the prettier end."

Gorma chuckled that time and with the laugh Lance felt a needle puncture his skin and he jumped with a scream. "Ah," he glared at the doctor.

"Had to sneak the I.V. in boy, I know how you are with the needles," he shoved the moving stand at Lance, wrapped a hand around it. "If you insist on walking around, you have to have an I.V of saline and antibiotics dripping into your fool body. Ida, you have both bags set?"

"Both bags set," she said and she smiled at Lance.

Lance winked at her.

Lara cleared her throat, which made his eyes widen because since when did she care if he flirted. "What?"

She shrugged, "You were just really hot."

He rolled his eyes at her.

"Lance. I'm taking the young lady's challenge, which Lion will fly for me. It is only one."

Lance turned back around, remembering vaguely Coran delivering Blue to he battlefield once for Allura to fly, however Nanny had been in the cockpit with him. He met Coran's gaze, Coran looked back arrogant, sure, still forgetting in all his protectiveness of Allura that his King wasn't a staid and traditional man himself. Coran was though, traditional, caring, nurturing; he'd turned himself inside out when he thought his son was back trying to talk himself into believing a fake was his boy because he'd yearned for the boy he'd lost. He loved Allura, he loved them despite his attitude right now, he'd taken them all in. He cared for Arus, even if he had misplaced loyalties, old-fashioned ideas in Lance's eyes.

"Yellow," Lance said after a moment.

Tarus laughed.

"Next time Hunk sleeps through an alarm, we'll make you go up with us, that will make Hunk make sure he gets up," Lance muttered. "I'm taking the Lady Seer here to see her mother now."

He turned around, Lara, the Seer and Romelle, all corralled around him, though he didn't let either Lara and Romelle hold him up, he glared at them both the second they looked ready to try. The Seer laughed, a small tinkling laugh. Lance found it an odd sound to trumpet them going off to see her mother's body.

~~.~~

The village of Cordelia was saved.

Voltron was formed and ready before the robeast broke through it's coffin; they easily kept if away from the village and pushed it into the empty desert where they preferred to destroy robeasts. It was a quick fight, without any interference from Lotor. Allura, however, as she exited the room where she changed back into her pink ball gown of the day still felt edgy and jumpy.

One choice, two choices. It was the first thing she knew she and Lance had changed, and it was a huge change. The people of the town were alive now, they would stay alive, she had saved so many lives by making sure Keith and Hunk had stayed in the castle, and Keith had saved Lance a worse infection, and them a week less of griping, she smiled a bit at the thought. She needed to check on Keith, then she needed to go down to where Altea's body was resting, awaiting the funeral and be there for the young seer. She had to tell her how brave her mother was, how much her mother loved her.

Keith was already talking to two guards when she walked into the main control room, his jaw was clenched and he didn't look to happy but he had slightly satisfied look about him. She walked over to him, wondering where Coran was as he was usually in the room after a battle to make sure she was okay - she didn't miss the hovering, but it was a glaring absence.

"Where is Coran?" she couldn't help asked for.

Keith shrugged.

Then he'd been gone when Keith and the other came out as well, they always made it out before she did. Being a man was so much less maintenance she supposed. "Keith?"

"I can't help it, I feel responsible for the people that were injured in the terrorist attack; I feel as if we should've known, we should have realized. And I should've, really, when I think about it. Arus is a traditional planet, the Royal Line of Arus has been kept going for generations, upon generations. You're people are not going to so easily accept an outsider. Even if he is the Captain of the Voltron Force..."

Allura took his hand, feeling guilty, she'd known about the attack from her trip into the future... She and Lance had talked about stopping both the terrorist attack, and the village's attack. She had wanted to try to stop both, she remembers them discussing it, in the past, on the bench. Idealistically trying to come up with a way for them to stop 100 injuries, no fatalities, no critical injuries and the massacre of a whole village. No plan worked out. No matter what they left the team short a member and that would spell disaster for Cordelia. They'd chosen the Village.

Allura had cried herself to sleep for two nights. She felt that rush of guilt again but it was tempered by knowing that Cordelia was a whole village and she shook her head. "Was anyone critically hurt?" she asked, though she knew the answer.

"No, injuried, but nothing critical, nothing fatal. The bar will be able to rebuild. It as just two people, a couple, they really didn't know what they were doing. They are in the cells downstairs, paperwork for their trial is already underway."

"Then it's done. It's been dealt with."

"I want to speak with them," Keith said.

"Keith that isn't necessary, let my soldiers do their jobs. If you go see them you give them something they want. They know they got to you." She gripped his hand more tightly. "Please, don't let them know that."

"That they got to me, that I'm hurt others were hurt in my name, because of me, because I wanted to be in your company, to be with you when you smile, to be the cause of your smile..."

Allura smiled.

Keith fell silent, his jaw clenched, his mouth twisted and then he gave her that shy smile of his back and Allura grinned wider. "I like your smile too, you know," she said.

Keith looked around. "We shouldn't be alone."

"Why not, I told Coran we no longer need a chaperone."

Keith touched her face, he stepped closer but not quite close enough. Allura watched as he grew serious, his already dark eyes grew darker. "Allura, I'm not sure that was a good idea. Coran is very worried about decisions you are making right now. He's scared at what could happen at this funeral you're planning. He told me what happened with the Seers during the first attacks, why they ran into hiding, why they stopped working with the Priests in the churches. Allura, it's dangerous and he told me more about the Underground since learning you went there. You never should have gone there at all, those places are dangerous full of dangerous people."

"Sad people, forsaken people. People that maybe centuries ago the leaders of Arus couldn't help, but they can be helped now. On Earth there is gambling and prostitution in the open, crime isn't under the ground."

"In places it is, it goes there."

"Runs there, but it's out there too, it's not some hidden secret. That only some people who aren't naive know about. If Lara hadn't let slip about hookers to Lance, I never would've been told."

"Lance shouldn't have been the one to tell you."

"Who should've been Keith? Coran? You?"

"Yes, maybe. I rather it would've been me."

Allura let go of his hand and stepped back.

"Allura?"

"And?"

"And what?"

"Are we back to the argument you have to protect me for my own good?"

Keith shook his head, he walked forward and he grabbed her hands back in his own. "No, I just rather it'd been me. I feel like Lance knows you more than I do, and I don't know when that happened because I always thought I understood better than anyone else. I... I did a lot of thinking when you were on the moon. We, we both have these preconceived notions of each other, or I had a preconceived of you. I thought you were still the Princess I admired from the day we arrived. Young, strong but naive, willing do what she had to do to protect her people - It never occurred to me you wanted to fight. I always thought you were doing it because there was no choice, it was another duty and one you took on because it had to be done, and you would never back away from it. You're too noble and you care too much about your people for that. But when Graham was here, with your actions of late with Lance. You want to be fighting, you like being on the team. You like hand to hand, you like flying, and your need to be more independent from Coran and Nanny. It isn't only about you becoming older, or becoming more of a woman and less of a girl, it's about being really truly becoming the Queen of Arus isn't it? And I wasn't ready to see you as the Queen, Allura. I have to admit. I, I need to get to know you as you who you want to be and who are now, and not as the young girl I supposed you to be and idealized in my head."

Allura nodded it was a lot to take in and it felt good to know he was starting to understand. She still didn't know what to do with all the rushing of feeling she had for Lance inside of her, but she knew feeling them hadn't erased her dreams and emotions for Keith.

"I'm fine with that but I really think it'd be easier for us to get past our idealized ideas of each other if we didn't have to have a chaperone," she said with an extra wide grin.

Keith rolled his eyes, looked around the control room, they were completely alone and Allura knew it. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Keith let his hands fall onto her waist, keeping her a just-so distance away from him. Allura noted it, decided her mission was to make the distance disappear during the kiss. One of his hands drifted up and he touched her cheek, "I was worried when you were gone."

"I had no choice."

"I'll try to understand that," he muttered, just before kissing her.

It was Keith, it tasted like tea, the almonds he'd snack on during the day, and his lips were warm to the touch, against her cooler skin. It made her shiver like it always did, she sighed into and opened her mouth, he slid his tongue into hers. Dizzy, warm, sweet, buzzy...

Nothing.

Keith pulled back for a minute and kissed the corner of her mouth, Allura sucked in a breath, thinking about why she wasn't feeling any need to try climb into Keith's skin like she had wanted to in the cave with Lance.

Lance had woken something up inside of her, she figured it meant it woken up inside of her. She knew Keith felt it, she could hear it in his breathing, he was edging his waist further away from her, even as he leaned in closer with his upper body to keep kissing her. She'd been idiotic never to notice all these signs before, she moved her hands from his neck and even though she didn't feel the urge to do it, she grabbed onto his waist and yanked him into hers.

Keith grabbed her face with his hands, stopped kissing her, angled his body away from hers and looked into her eyes, breathing heavily, eyes blinking and then he finally croaked out. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted more body contact," she said. That had to be it, Lance had them so smushed together when he kissed her that it was all the contact that ignited the fire underneath her skin that caused everything to go from buzzy, warm and sweet to electric, fiery, hot with the underlying intimacy of fun and laughter.

She wanted that with Keith. It was supposed to be with Keith. She frowned when he shook his head. "That's that's not a good idea, Allura. I mean, I want too. I really want too," his voice cracked a bit. "But, uh, we can't. I mean I promised Coran a slow time table, because of your age and because well. Allura you can't even break the tradition of the age you can marry. It's best we keep our bodies on limited contact, because that way it's easier... to you know..." Keith trailed off with a slight rosy pigment on his face.

Allura stared at him. "What?"

Keith grinned. "It's okay, really. We really aren't there yet anyway, we need to get to know each other better, Allura. Get to know the real people not the person we were crushing on for so long. It's like Lance said, we had these puppy love crushes, and a real relationship just isn't built on a fantasy like that."

"Puppy love?"

"It's when you have a crush that doesn't mean anything, it's all fantasy. Which isn't really true, with us, but..."

Allura nodded. Then she clamped her hands Keith face and kissed him hard, much like the first time Lance kissed her. It'd been a surprise but she'd found it so easy to go with it after her initial shock, maybe it'd been his tongue? Keith however grabbed her wrists and pushed her away. "Allura?"

"What, I want to make out," she huffed, still wondering where there was no electric pulsing need in the air.

"Well, uh, the control room..."

When the doors opened and Sven and Romelle walked in. "Uh, you two are going to want to hear what happened between Lance and Coran while we were fighting," Sven announced.

Allura froze, then turned and stared at Romelle. "What?"

"Well, I don't know what started it. I wasn't in the room, I want to get Dr. Gorma because Lance said he was going to take the Seer to see her mother. I figured Gorma could make him go back to the room. But when we walked in, I heard Coran tell him that five of them were just earth boys, who didn't matter. It was the gist."

Allura paled, then she got furious. "He couldn't have, he wouldn't have... Coran doesn't even... He knows... I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind. Father, should haunt while he sleeps, Father would never agree..."

"That is what Lance said," Romelle said, grabbing Allura before she took off.

"What?" Keith said.

"Lance, he walked over to where Coran stood, which was frankly painful to watch. Told him that Alfor would completely disagree with him and that he was forgetting himself in his attempts to keep Allura protected; and more apparently forgetting what Alfor built here for the future of Arus and what he believed. Then he told Coran to fuck off with the reminding him he meant nothing when Allura gave him what for... that part I remember. Yeah, he asked of Coran would say that to you and Keith. Coran said when it was time, he just thought he'd tell Lance now as he'd need to be told more than once."

"Lance told Coran to fuck off," Keith repeated, rubbing his hand against his forehead. "Great, just great."

"It didn't stop there."

"Of course not," Keith muttered.

"Coran told Lance that he shouldn't dare speak for his King."

"Then who the hell should! Who the hell is better qualified," Allura snapped without thought, in her mind a picture of Lance face's right after her father's on a piece of paper proclaiming them the True Kings of Arus. That is until she had three sets of eyes staring at her. "I mean, who else in the room was better qualified to speak on my-behalf for my father," she stammered. "I mean Coran should be but he's obviously lost his mind."

"Coran, I would say Lance lost his mind."

"Well, uh, the Seer cleared her throat, after Coran shouted that," Romelle said.

Allura paled. "Uh, uh, what did she say?"

"Well," Romelle giggled. "Sorry, Lance turned around so fast he almost fell on his butt again, Gorma caught him, it was a bit funny. But he yelled 'don't' at her. Very commanding. She smiled at him though, this really understanding smile, they were having a conversation the rest of us weren't, well Tarus got it, I'm sure. She put down her cloak, she's very beautiful, and said that Lance's blood is more Arusian than Terran."

Keith stared at Romelle and then at Allura.

Allura was also staring at her cousin, her mind spinning, what did that mean, was that fancy non-way of saying Lance was King? "What does that mean?" Allura finally said when she realized Keith was looking at her.

"That's what I asked and I still don't get it," Sven muttered.

"Well, I she said that Lance speaks to Arus and therefore for her."

Allura shook her head still confused.

"She brought up the elements, the elements that form Voltron. Fire, water, air, earth and the energy of arus, the lightning I guess. She said that they speak to him. She said we already have seen it in how he knows who can fly the lions. Coran said it was just lucky guess work. She told Coran to dare Lance to name the one lion he can fly... Lance looked petrified at the thought, completely blank, he stared at the girl and pretty much said he couldn't do it. She told him he could he was looking at the wrong person. Coran then asked Lance to do it, since Lance said he couldn't I think. Lance then turned, stared at Coran for all of half a minute and said Yellow. Tarus laughed and Coran blanched. Lance made a crack about when Hunk sleeps through siren the team should take Coran up. It was true."

"Is that it," Keith asked, then muttered to himself more than anyone. "Is that it, he told Coran to fuck off."

"He should have, Coran had no right to say that to him," Allura snapped.

Keith looked at her. "Allura, Coran deserves our respect."

"Not when he doesn't treat us with it. Lance deserved his respect. Did he take her to her mother."

"Yes, oh also during all this, Gorma stuck an IV in his arm, so he's getting his medication. Don't worry," Romelle said.

Allura laughed. "Oh, that part had to be funny."

"Yeah. So was Lara telling him it was hot," Romelle laughed.

"Lara was still there?" Allura said.

"She's still with him I think, she promised to make sure he got back into bed at some point."

"Yeah, well she better not be in it," Allura muttered.

"I doubt Gorma would allow that, but I wouldn't put past Lance," Keith said.

Romelle grabbed Allura's hand, Allura looked at Romelle and caught herself just before she said something about needing to make sure Gorma made a rule against Lara even sitting on the bed. Allura took in a breath, she couldn't believe how angry she was at Coran but it was more than that it was disappointment. She knew in her heart of hearts, Coran did not think the Voltron Force were just boys from Earth. He believed the prophecies, he believed in her father's visions. He'd always said her father was a dreamer, idealistic and he'd oftened cautioned him to be more slow but that Alfor knew what he felt was best Arus. Coran had told her, her father had said Arus told him herself, he'd laugh as he said, but he'd said it nonetheless...

Her eyes widened. "I have to go talk to the Seer, I mean, I promised. I promised her mother..." she hugged Keith, then Romelle, and ran out of the room.


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes: ** Craze, thank you for the review! On my other stories, I have RL stuff going on and this story is the loudest in my head but I will be getting back to all other things Lance that I am writing. I promise :-)

Chapter Forty-five

Allura paused before she walked into the chapel, she had to quiet her mind. It was raging, with disappointment and anger at Coran, with fear she couldn't completely quantify due to the words the Seer had told Coran regarding Lance reminding her of something Coran himself had told her Alfor had spoken about. Speaking as if the planet itself spoke to him, she took in a deep breath, she didn't think anything like that had happened to Lance. She couldn't imagine him admitting it if it had or if he would know it consciously. Lance flew by his gut, made his choices by his emotions, he lead with his heart, his head was never in it. He'd seen prophecies come true but he still didn't truly believe in it all. He kept telling her he didn't know how he knew, he just knew, when it came to the lions and she knew he no desire to think on the feeling, to understand the gift better.

Allura frowned, she had her own intuitions, she ran from some, faced others, but she herself had never really given it any time, she never sat and focused and tried to understand her feelings, her dreams better. But she believed in them, she believed in the truth of the portents and how they were supposed to connect to the Arusian's belief in a God who watched over them. She believed in the merge of mechanical and magic, she flew in a machine that alive - they all did, but she believed in the life inside of Blue to an extent the rest of the them didn't.

Maybe it was time for her to stop taking it all at face value? She breathed out, she wasn't quieting her thoughts, she was going on tangents thinking of things that had been on her mind since she stepped out of the future until now. It was because they could get caught, her and Lance, the Seer's could let slip what they think the future is going to be.

But Allura and Lance changed it today, fundamentally. Over a thousand people had beating hearts and roofs over their head because they changed it. It was changeable. Coran might never remember what he told her, about Alfor, he might put the Seer's words together with her father being a King. Maybe Allura was jumping to conclusions, maybe all the Seer was saying was about the connection to Voltron her father and Lance shared.

They couldn't change that, it was a fact, Allura realized, her heart beating and she decided that her mind wasn't going to fall silent, so she opened the door to the small chapel near the tombs in the bottom of the castle and walked inside.

Lara and Lance were sitting right by the door, in the last pew, Lance's I.V. stand in the aisle. He was leaned back in the pew, arms loose on his lap, eyes closed and looked to the world as if he was dead asleep, except for the fact his right leg was bouncing up and down in rapid succession. He opened one eye when he heard the door, his mouth curved up in a smile when he saw her and he nudged at the woman sleeping on him. Allura tried not to overreact, Lara was sitting in a chapel watching over Lance and he needed watching, or he might have tried to go out and fight in the battle some other way. She should be grateful, she told herself, but Lara was sleeping on him on his left side which was the leg that had been hurt. Her head was on his shoulder, her hand was on his leg, right over his knee and Allura remembered from experience that though the wound was on his calf the pain shot upward and that he'd over strained his entire leg. Lara's whole body too seemed turned into Lance, and Allura just didn't like it, the weight couldn't be good for him, even Lara probably only weighed 100 pounds or so, it was still too much. Lance was nudging her with his shoulder though and she sat up suddenly, hand shooting her to mouth and she looked around.

Allura nodded at her and quietly mouthed that she could leave. Lara nodded but didn't make a move to leave; instead she turned toward Lance and kissed him. Allura meant to avert her eyes, she usually did of course, it was polite but she didn't. She watched them kiss. Lara barely moved from where she sat all she did was lean up ward and find Lance's mouth her own, one hand on his face. Lance however went from how he was laid back at a straight angle toward the front of the room to curving his body into her, his mouth opened and Allura watched his tongue slide into Lara's mouth. Her hands formed into fists at her sides but she held her tongue, she had no right to stop it, he was dating Lara. She'd just been kissing Keith, Allura told herself, she had no right to want to stop Lance and Lara from kissing, non at all.

It latest about a minute maybe less, Allura felt like it was longer but she knew it couldn't have been because then Lara was standing up and Lance was wincing a bit as he moved his legs so she could walk past him. Lara gave Allura a slight smile of goodbye which Allura forced herself to returned and then she walked over to the pew, carefully stepped around the I.V. stand and passed Lance's legs and sat down where Lara had been and told herself to just forget the woman that been there. Put it all out of her head, she let out a breath and turned to speak to Lance to forget what she was going to say when she met his gaze.

"Are you okay?" he asked hand coming up, and she thought he was going to touch her cheek but instead it landed on her shoulder. It was a warm, firm, solid grip and he gentle squeezed where her shoulder and neck muscles met. "You're all tense," he said, his voice sounding odd to her ears. It was so rarely he talked softly, quietly, but he was doing so now not because of where they were but because of who was with them in the room.

"I'm fine. We saved the village," she said back and couldn't stop the smile of relief and maybe a little bit of pride. "We changed it," she added looking up at him.

He grinned and her hands jerked in her lap, she wanted to touch his face, touch him but she really couldn't, could she? Instead of reaching for his face she reached for his right arm, and checked where Gorma had inserted in the I.V. needle. She wouldn't put it passed Lance to try to pull it out. He flinched a bit as her hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled his arm over his lap towards her. She looked down and saw everything was intact, the medication he needed was entering his system.

"I'm not touching that thing if that's what you're checking, Lara thought it too, it's a needle. In my skin, I ain't messing with it," Lance said with a shudder.

Allura giggled, then had to cover her mouth with her free hand because it was a bit too loud. "I had to be sure, you looked antsy when I walked in."

"I was. So everything is good, the village is good?"

"Perfect," Allura said, meeting his eyes and he looked happy, serious, thoughtful. Hazel eyes swimming with ambers, greens and browns, she wanted to count all the shades, was that grey? She moved closer without realizing it and then glanced at the alter. "Fin's still here?"

"I don't think he's left her," Lance said lowly. "I think Mira's been helping him though."

"Who is helping her?" Allura asked, thinking she could imagine the pain, the grief, the reopening of a hole if the body on the altar, in the coffin awaiting a funeral was her own mother's. Thought gone already, then found only to return gone. Taken again before you even knew there was the shot to have her back, how does one handle that?

"You," Lance said. "That's my guess."

"You fought with Coran?"

Lance averted his eyes for minute, looked down but when he looked back up at her, he had a look she knew well. Resolute, certain, she'd seen it a million times when he fought his side with Keith; he and Keith could fight over things for hours, both right, neither wrong and always took so long to get them to come to a middle. She wondered sometimes how it happened, because she always agreed with one more than other, everyone always agreed with one more than other. And the one they didn't agree with always had a point. It was like with all the team fights though, not just theirs, and Allura wondered why Lance was giving her the look now, did he think she'd be angry at him.

"I had too. He was...wrong. I don't even think he meant it, not really, but I had too. I just...he's going to hurt Arus if he keeps trying to protect you like he is."

"Romelle, told me everything. I agree with you," Allura said. "I," she felt tears threatening and she inhaled to try to control them but it only seemed to make them come. She fought to kept her voice steady. "I'm disappointed in him, I don't know what to do. There is the Underground, but there is how he's reacting to these things, he is losing sight of what Father's vision for Arus was. He's gotten so much more staid lately."

"He doesn't want to let you grow up," Lance said hand coming up and his thumb catching her tears. "It's a guess, I guess. It's all tied into protecting you. The more protective he and Nanny get the more Old Arus traditions they dredge up."

"He told you you were nothing."

Lance shrugged. "Maybe I am, really, but the team isn't. Not as a whole. Keith isn't, not to you and I couldn't let him..."

"You aren't either," she cut him off. "You aren't nothing, you're... he told you couldn't speak for the King of Arus. We both know that's..."

Lance's eyes widened. "Allura, seriously, a piece of paper says understanding the Lion's hearts makes me a king? A prophecy or whatever it is, I don't know...but it's not fact. It's not... He sees me as the second command, the guy who shoots first and asks later and screws up a lot because of it. So come on it makes sense, don't get protective like people should think I'm the king or know. Hell, especially when we plan to change it, been working on changing it. We made sure that village survived, we know it can happen."

Allura felt her heart beating. "I just... I believe it's a fact, Lance. You're are a voice for Arus, King, whatever, because of your gift with the Lions. That's Voltron, it's a part of Arus. What she said," she glanced toward the altar. "About you, talking to, speaking for Arus, it reminded me of things Coran would tell me when I was younger and beg him for information about my parents, Father especially. He said a few times that Father said Arus told him, the planet spoke to him. The truth is both father and you were on the page, Laurie gave us that spoke of the True Kings of Arus. I might want to change my future love life but I can't ignore facts either. Not with how much I believe in the prophecies," she stopped talking thinking she sounded crazy, how could she believe the prophecies but fight them at the same time. She was being hypocritical but she couldn't forget Keith, she couldn't pretend she didn't care about him at all. But Lance, Lance she had seen put the pieces together, put the right people in the right Lions. She didn't need to know how he did it to believe he'd known the Lion Coran could fly. It was a gift, special, true, a fact. His.

"Allura, you're confusing me here?" Lance said, his thumb pressing against her still wet cheek, his other hand still massaging her shoulder. He gazed down at her. "It's one or the other isn't it?"

Allura shook her head. "No. I choice my own personal destiny, you do too but the you and the Lions. It's true. It's a fact. We can't ignore it. We can't ignore the King thing... Not completely, not anymore, I don't know what I'm saying," she admitted biting her lip. She'd bring it up again to him later, when she had it more clear in her own head. Nothing was clear in her head at the moment, nothing. "Also, I'm scared. Coran always laughed about father talking to the planet, but what if he remembers those moments from what she said."

Lance frowned, he shot a look at the altar. "I told her don't, when she cleared her throat," he shook his head. "Tarus is following my orders, so is she and I keep saying don't treat me like a King, then I keep giving them commandments." He rolled his eyes and brought his both hands and framed her face.

The sense memory sent Allura back to the cave, right straight back to the first time he kissed her and she felt herself shiver, her eyes closed and she leaned forward.

"I don't think Coran's going to put those two things together, don't worry," Lance said, but her heart was pounding, her pulse was racing and they were so close. Allura itched to move forward, to just capture his mouth with hers like she'd watch Lara do but she couldn't and she bit her lip again.

"Allura?" Lance asked when she didn't say anything, when she just kept looking at him, his hands falling from her face, he shifted and wrapped an arm around her shoulders pulling her into his side. "Look it's going to be fine, let's just go one step at a time."

Allura snuggled into him, she always snuggled into him and if she went in a little bit closer than she used to it wasn't a big deal, she told herself. She just wanted to know he was okay. She faced the altar now, she looked down and saw that the Seer and Fin were both sitting at the foot of the altar, heads bent together talking. Romelle was right she was beautiful. She had long brown hair and wide brown eyes; Allura could see Altea in her in chin but it was more than physical, it was the same quiet, sure energy. It wasn't loud, it wasn't in your face but it was a quiet strength that resonated. It was something that could be counted on.

It reminded Allura of Keith.

Guilt slammed into her for how much she'd wanted to kiss Lance seconds ago, she let out a sigh. Lance tightened his hold on her, and all it did was make everything worse because his smell enveloped her, leather, the smoke of a perfect fire, that dark scent that was Lance that she'd tasted on his tongue in the cave. She didn't want to move away all she wanted was to move closer.

It reminded her that that had been missing with Keith, in the control room when they'd been kissing. Allura didn't understand it, she knew them both the same. She loved them differently, even now it was all so different but there was so many things the same. She knew the same about of years, she knew them both better than anyone else in the world - maybe even herself if her day was any indication she thought wryly. She'd dreamed, and wondered about touching and kissing Keith her whole life. His kisses had felt like gifts at the start but they'd never made her feel like a live wire. They both made her feel safe, secure and seen.

Puppy love, Keith had mentioned puppy love and she wondered if that was the key? Maybe she was still holding onto her first idealized romantic fantasies about him, the ones she had when they first came to Arus. Where they would win the war and live happily ever after. It'd never be simple like some sweet movie from the place on Earth called Disney. Those were like her fantasies were, it wasn't the truth. Keith was private, he still hadn't fully opened to her not as much as she wished. She knew him, she understood him. He all but admitted not even an hour ago a part of him still saw her as a girl and he had to get to know the woman.

Lance, Lance had been calling her a woman for a long time now. Maybe it was all in the difference of that. Maybe she just had to get Keith to see her as a woman and the live wire would kick in between them and she'd feel the need to get closer, to not want to move, to keep inhaling Keith's scent and want to lick his skin.

It still felt like she was missing something, she turned her head mouth about to open to ask Lance what it was, when she realized she couldn't ask him without telling what had happened between them. It was too much, she had to keep the cave a secret, things were complicated enough it was best. They were choosing their own future.

"Allura?"

"Yeah?"

His left arm was around her shoulders, his hand ran up and down her arm where it touched it, he pulled her closer. "How long are planning to wait to talk to her?"

Allura shook her head. "I don't want to interrupt."

"Me either, so awhile then huh?"

Allura nodded.

Lance pulled her tighter as he leaned back again and closed his eyes. "I'm comfy, think I'll take a catnap, wake me when it's time to leave."

Allura leaned even more into him. "Okay," she whispered.


	46. Chapter 46

Forty-six

Closing the door quietly behind Fin, the Seer thought her mother may not have made it to the moment of her death without the steadfast, grumbly old man who had stood by her side. Who had silently loved her mother all this time and was now grieving her more than he'd even grieved the life Doom had stolen from over seventeen years ago.

She had seen the last moments of her mother's life many times, she'd lost count, but she'd never once seen her mother's part in the puzzle. She knew as she glanced back at the body; set and ready for a hero's funeral to take place in front of a congregation that would most likely rail against it. She frowned. How had her mother known she had a part to play? Seers never saw themselves in their visions, even if they were a piece of a the puzzle, had a part to play in the tapestry of the fate that was being weaved. Tarus and Ara tried to teach her, as did Espen and Padraic, but she felt she was still walking blind.

Fixed points she understood.

She saw them over and over and over again. She'd been seeing them since before she could comprehend them and what they meant. She'd started seeing when she was five years old. She hadn't known what the strange dreams and visions meant. The things she saw were nightmares at times, way too much for a young mind to handle or understand.

It was easier as she grew older, she understood more about life, and about death. Her mother, she never thought she'd see her again, she couldn't have foreseen this moment. How she wished her mother could speak to her, talk to her assist her. Because her visions still confused her, it was the changeable points that worried her.

Princess Allura was at a complex point in her life. She was feeling and facing an emotional crisis of heart that was complicated by future knowledge that no one should ever know... not that it matters. The trip to the future was a fixed point, one the seer found complicated and strange. She'd talked and talked with Ara and Tarus about it and gotten nowhere in her mind on it. Allura's heart would choice on its own who she loved, nothing would sway it either or, that is what the day to day visions constantly said... the Seer saw Keith, Keith in Allura's heart. Deep and solid, he'd never leave.

The King was there though, and Lance McClain was the King. It was a fact. He was a prophesied King, it was a simple fact. He was the True King, after Alfor. The last True King of Arus for over a five hundred years - it'd been why they'd needed him in the future; that is what Espen had concluded. They had no one who could read the Lions, the last true King was their only way and they had the ability to pull him out of time. Only they hadn't found the prophecy yet about the true Kings of Arus, but they'd found one relating to their issue and brought forth Allura and Lance.

It still made her head hurt and she dealt with the seeing the future all the time, and she'd known it was going to happen since before Lance came to Arus. Day to day, she feared figuring it out, trying to siphon off the ones that were unlikely to happening. Trying to guess what was important to tell Allura, and what wouldn't be. She wished her mother could guide her, she dreamed of it many times, as she foresaw Allura going to her father...

She looked at the altar, again and wondered, with her mother now dead, her body here on Arus, her spirit to be put to rest soon with the prayer of the Seer's said over her body... Could she hope to be so lucky? Spirits like Alfor were rare, special and never to be taken for granted.

The Seer didn't dare hope her mother could come to her as Alfor came to Allura and the Voltron Force's aid. She moved quietly, not wanting to wake Lance, he needed his rest. He much like Allura was in a time of turmoil, and it was only going to get worse soon, more complicated and crazier for them both.

Dangerous too for a time. She sighed as she slipped into the pew in front of them, looked at them sleeping wrapped up in each other, so close and yet not allowing it to be what it could be. Lance not allowing his own feelings to be put into the light because he thought her own and and Keith's meant more than he did. He didn't see himself as special, despite the cockiness and the confidence he saw himself only as a good - okay great pilot - and that was it. He was a contradiction, she couldn't read his mind, she knew him from Seeing him, watching him, and seeing all the possible decisions he could make. People would be surprised how often he made decisions that kept him from getting what he really wanted, when on the outside he seemed to be doing the exact opposite.

Reaching over the pew, high onto her knees, feeling guilty for doing she reached out and tapped Princess Allura on the shoulder as softly as she could. The Princess awoke with a soft jerk and blinked, sat up slightly and looked at her blankly for less than a minute than a guilty expression formed on her face.

"Oh, I... I feel asleep."

"It's okay. I was having a good conversation with Fin. I finally convinced him to go to the quarters you arranged for him and get some sleep," she explained.

Allura smiled. "He really cared for your mother, a lot. Lance, he said he thought Fin loved her."

She nodded. "I think he's right. My mother was lucky to have him, as were the two of you. It was nice to meet him, I've been seeing his face all my life."

Allura bit her lower lip. "You've seen those events more than once?" she asked realizing what she meant.

"I see the fixed points over and over. Ara, my other mother... She says the fixed replay, the changeable flit away on the wind like an idle thought."

Allura nodded and tried to sit up more but Lance's arm in his sleep tightened around her when she tried to move forward. Allura smiled, then frowned at the action before controlling her expression and facing the Seer. "Your mother wanted you to know she loves you."

"Oh." It hit her harder than she thought it would, she hadn't foreseen the message but she had supposed it. What else could Allura have to tell her from her mother, but love. It hit her in a place she thought healed enough not to be so tender and tears caught her by surprise and she had to cover her mouth and count to ten to calm herself.

Allura reached out with her hand and took the seer's free one, the seer felt the empathy and the warmth. When she could open her own eyes again and see, she saw the knowing understanding in Allura's own clear blue eyes and she nodded. "Thank you, I knew... I didn't see it, of course, I can't see anything that pertains to me but I guessed, I mean I knew. I knew if you had a message that would be it. But... I didn't think it hurt so hard."

"I keep thinking if I was in your place, how angry I would feel. I don't know how you can look at us."

"It's not your fault, or Lance's, not it's the wars. The Drule's. I cannot blame the two of you, especially when I know you both will feel guilt far worse than I can put onto you. Especially..." she glanced at Lance. "He shouldn't feel less worthy than her. He's of more import, he's the King."

She watched Allura pale at her words, and Allura's hand slipped from her hold and she waited. Allura looked shocked, afraid and like she'd remembered something she wished she hadn't. "What you said to Coran, it mirrored words he'd said to me when I was younger begging for tales of my father. He said my father talked to the planet, he'd laugh as he said it. But he said my father believed Arus spoke to him. You said something of the sort to Coran, to Lance too about him... I am sure it's in regard too him being the True King. I just..."

"Coran won't put it together. Coran finds out about Lance at a fixed spot in time, when you tell him yourself."

"When I..." Allura stammered.

"Allura, you must know, you can't keep it hidden forever. Lance's role to play on Arus is too important. I know you need to follow your own heart, but you must see the True King of Arus Prophecy is a factual piece of evidence... He is the last one for over five hundred years. It's a rarity for two to happen so close to each other, even more rare and probably an unique situation for it to be a man not born on Arus soil. It's because he is here at a time of need, and he's the only one who can feel the role. Make your choices, but understand,the poeple of Arus is going to have to accept as someone who speaks for them. He's their True King."

Allura glanced at Lance and her expression softened, then she turned back to the Seer. "I don't even know your name."

"I know. I wasn't meant to tell you until today, and I couldn't tell you until Tarus told me when, because I couldn't even see when the right time was. He said here, in the chapel was okay. I am Mira."

"Mira?" Allura eyebrows came together as she puzzled. "It's a beautiful name..." she trailed off not saying what she was thinking.

Mira smiled and wondered at Tarus warning. She might have a strange reaction, don't think too hard on it, it won't be of import until much much later in your relationship when she finally remembers why she had the strange reaction. By then it should not matter... Mira sighed because Allura had made questioning face but Tarus had made it sound like she might scream or something at the sound of her name.

The door opened to the room and the both turned to see Keith Kogane standing in the threshold. He bowed hello to her, quiet and sincere, and said quietly. "I am sorry for your loss and for the intrusion. A message has come to the control room, Princess you are needed."

"Thank you and it is okay. Princess, would you like me to wake him and take him back to his hospital bed?" she asked looking at Lance.

Allura carefully extricated herself from Lance's grip, holding her breath when she did that he wouldn't wake up and letting it out slowly when he didn't. "Yes, please. Thank you, Mira."

Mira stood up as the Princess did and they both walked out into the aisle and met with Captain Kogane. He took Allura's hand in his and glanced at Lance, Mira took in the worried gaze at his friend. "Is he okay?"

"I think he finally just let himself rest," Allura said.

"He'll be more comfortable in a bed," Keith sighed.

"I'll get him back to his room," Mira said. "It was nice to meet you, Captain."

He glanced at her, shook his head ever so slightly it was almost not there. "I would have preferred under better circumstances, Seer?"

"Oh. Keith this is Mira? Seer Mira?"

"Just Mira is fine."

Allura nodded. "Keith this is Mira, Mira this is Keith."

Keith held out his hand, Mira smiled as he did so and took it, surprised by the heat of his palm, she shook it with her own firm grip. You had to have a solid handshake if you lived in the underground, or you would get ripped off and be thought weak. He smiled as their hands parted, "Good grip."

"It keeps me safe," she said.

He rose an eyebrow at her but then turned to Allura. "We have to get to the control room. The Garrison is on the communications, they want Arus to host the annual Alliance Ball this year. Coran is very interested, but he wants you on the call too."

Allura nodded and Mira saw her mind click in recognition, Allura had known this was coming but she'd forgotten, as soon as Keith wasn't looking Allura took a deep breath and looked up to the heavens and whispered. "One thing at a time, one thing at a time..."

Mira then looked at Lance, bent down and tapped him on his good leg and whispered in his ear the only thing she could think of that might wake him up, after all the talking hadn't. "Allura's in trouble."

"What!" he jerked awake fast and jumped to his feet. She cringed and told herself she really should have known better as he lost his balance for over using his bad leg and she to grab him.

"I told Allura, I'd take you to bed."

He took a minute to remember where he was, he looked down at her and then he winked at her. "Lady, we just met," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "She is talking to the Garrison about hosting the ball, from her reaction behind Keith's back, I'm thinking you two know about it already?"

Lance groaned. "I remember a reference from when I stupidly flipped through my journal..."

"Then you know you should get your rest, Commander McClain."

"Lance, is fine... uh, what's your name?"

"Mira."

"Mira?" Lance repeated. "Mira? Mira? I... Oh." he eyed her. "Have you told Allura?"

"Yes."

"Uh, how did she react?"

"Fine," Mira looked at him and she decided to tell him. "I don't know why my name matters. Tarus has told me does, but as Seers can't see their own futures, I don't know anything. So why does it matter?"

Lance stayed quiet as they walked, but Mira could hear him thinking and she wondered at why he was taking so long on it. She knew more about his life than he did, he knew one thing more about hers. Why was he thinking so hard on telling her? It seemed simple to her, tell her, she was curious, she wouldn't force him, however. It was his choice, since he was the only one who knew. Tarus said he would not tell, he didn't think he should because the fixed points would be starting soon enough...

As she opened the door to his room in the medical wing, Lance finally said. "No."

"No?"

"I hate knowing half of what I know about the so called future. Look I don't mean to knock your job but whatever. We came across your name, one day. That's all and if Allura isn't placing it... then no. I'm not saying a damn thing," he looked her right in the eye as he said it.

"Okay, it's your choice to make," she said.

He laughed. "Right."

"No really, it was, you did. It's done," she smiled.

Lance shook his head and then he took her hand, his face grew serious and Mira was struck by how little it was seen outside of his room when no one was looking at him. To be the one it was leveled was intense she had to admit and he looked regal to her then, like the king she knew he would grow to be. "I'm sorry, Mira, I didn't... If I could've stop her from doing what she did," he whispered his apology.

Mira put her hand on his mouth. "It was meant to be. I know you don't believe it but you are too important to Arus to have died. It was how it meant to be. She played her part in a fixed point, she probably felt honored to do so. To be part of the thread that makes you the King."

He paled and shook his head.

"Fact. Like I said to Coran. Without saying the word, King, of course."

He sighed.

"Get your rest, Lance. You'll need it," she said, her hand leaving his mouth, her eyes pointing to his bed. His eyebrows rose and he pinned her with a sharp gaze.

"Do I want to ask?"

She laughed and shook her head. "Things happen as they will. At least that is what Padraic one of the Seers who has taught me says."

Lance sighed and climbed into his bed, a nurse came in behind them to change his I.V. and check his vitals. "Ida, I'm fine," he grumbled.

Mira nodded her goodbye and left the room.


	47. Chapter 47

Forty-seven

Lance was ready to argue, he was already in his room, in his dress uniform. He'd woken up early, from reliving the moment Altea stepped into the line of fire to allow him to live. It'd been in vivid sharp horrible color, the last moments of an amazing strong needed woman. He'd seen Mira in the chapel when she first saw her mother on the altar, the quiet strength she'd inherited that had kept her whole when she lived in a place like the Underground, when people who once revered her kind now spat at her.

She was Allura's age and like Allura forced to be older, wiser, and worse she had all these things in her head that he knew would drive him crazy. Seeing him all the time on the verge of making choices. It gave him a headache thinking about it, how Mira smiled and looked so at peace all the time... given all the givens. It angered him and he saw her mother in her. Her mother who had scared him because of her gift, because she was a Seer. They gave him the creeps, he admitted it, they gave him the creeps and he wasn't happy about how it now seemed Mira might be around more often.

Offering her Seer advice without any real information. But he owed her, he owed her and he owered her mother, and there was no way he wasn't going to the funeral. Especially when it could turn into something ugly. He was going to protect the body, he was going to make sure Altea was given the prayers that Allura said she was deserving as both a Seer and a Hero of Arus, and that she made it to the funeral pyre where she would turn to ashes that in a few days would be presented to Mira by Allura.

It shouldn't have happened he thought staring in the mirror and making sure his medals, insignias and cufflinks were straight and ignoring the sting in his eyes and the tightening in his throat. He was also tense and ready for the chime on the door and whoever it was that walked in ready to argue with him for walking out of Medbay without Gorma's authorization.

The door opened, no chime, he turned from where his stood and lost his breath. Allura floated in, at least it felt like it, she was wearing a dress he'd never seen before. It was white, with an airy full skirt and strapless, it almost looked like a bridal grown but he knew it wasn't because on Arus brides wore yellow the color of the sun to symbolize a new beginning. On Earth though, on Earth she was a bride, he thought. He swallowed over the dry lump in his throat and pushed the idea of marriage and Allura out of his head, it would just take him to bad places.

"You should be in bed," she said, hands on her hips.

He opened his mouth, ready to argue but what came out was, "You are gorgeous, simply gorgeous. Should you look this good at a funeral?"

Her flush covered her face, her neck and seemed to go down to her cleavage and Lance tried not to follow it with his eyes and he failed. He closed them and opened them again. "I'm going," he said and with that he picked up his blaster.

Allura sighed and he knew without turning to look at her again, which he was avoiding on purpose, that it was the blaster. "I wish you and Keith wouldn't bring those."

He smirked. "Then I'm going, no arguments?"

"When we got the call from Dr. Gorma, Keith said not to argue with you, that you needed to be here. I knew he was right but I had to say it once, because when you get too tired later and start to wobble on your good leg. I am going to say: Told you so!"

Lance laughed and made the mistake and turning toward her. "Okay, when I fall on my ass later you can say told you so," he said, thinking not for the first and never the last time that she was too beautiful and she was going to be the death of him.

She crossed the room, the skirt still making it look like she was floating rather than walking and her hands reached up. Her fingers brushed the skin of his neck as she straightened his collar. He held his breath, steeling his spine as he reacted to her lavendar-vanilla scent, found himself locked in her clear blue gaze which was all empathy at the moment.

"I want you to not blame yourself."

Lance opened his mouth.

Allura shook her head. "Keith was wrong about blaming himself for the terrorists actions yesterday."

Lance frowned. "It's an entirely different..."

"Lance, I know you don't want to admit it, and for some reason you have a problem thinking it, which given how often I hear you say how awesome you are..." she trailed off and slowly pulled her hands away from his collar. "You're important to Arus. I've known it since I couldn't in my heart turn away from the moon prophecy, and when I spoke with Mira yesterday... What she told Coran, no matter whatelse the future may hold. You are the True King of Arus, the one who speaks not only to the Lions but to Arus herself...whatever it means." Allura gave a small smile that let on her confusion of the vision despite her believe.

"I..." he trailed off, he wanted to argue with her, he wanted to say no and he wanted to say he didn't want it, he didn't want that responsibilty but the words felt like a lie in his head. He loved this planet, he'd never felt more at home anywhere in his life and he didn't want to leave the planet. "I don't understand how it can be me? I'm not Arusian."

Allura nodded. "Mira says you are a rare and unique case, brought to us at a great time of need, after the death of my father. The True Kings are rare and usually more than 300 years apart. I looked up things up last night before bed, the King before my father on the prophecy they gave us in the future... King Gregor, he was from 675 years ago. After you it's another 500 years or so. You were needed and you came to us... the five of you."

Lance swallowed the image of a wedding coming to him again, as he caught the sight of them in his mirror out the side of his eye. Her in the white dress, him in his Dress White Uniform.

It was...they looked.

Lance closed his eyes and grabbed the edge of his bureau and scolded his heart for thinking about the drawing of the wedding between them. For remembering so much detail in the first place for a moment he and her were trying to change. Allura's hand pressed against his cheek, he'd shaved so her palm as soft against his freshly shaven skin and he shivered, his eyes opened and he was peering down into concerned eyes.

"What is it? Are you dizzy? Should I get Gorma?" she turned, one hand gathering her skirt looking ready to run.

He grabbed her by her waist with one hand, too roughly with no fineness but it stopped her from fleeing before he even answered her question. She stilled turned back to him, looking up with worry spelled out on her face and a blush on her cheeks.

"Lance?"

"I'm fine, really. I feel a lot better, I can put my weight on my leg, for now. I..." he trailed off, he couldn't tell her he kept thinking about her, about them, that he wanted to make a future where they were something, anything, he didn't care what, he'd take whatever she was willing to give.

"You," she whispered and Lance blinked thinking he imagined it that she moved closer to him, more into his body space as she pressed her hand more firmly against his cheek.

"Allura," he started but the door chimed, making Allura jump completely startled by the sound. He grabbed her, both hands on her waist this time, and he chuckled. "You okay," he ended up asking instead of whatever else may have slipped out of his mouth instead.

Allura nodded, sighed and turned toward Lance's door. "Who is it?" she asked like it was her own room.

Lance kept quiet.

"Me," Keith said, as he opened the door. "Is he healthy enough?" Keith started to ask as he walked inside but he stopped just short of finishing the question when he saw Allura. "You. Uh. Changed."

"I got waylaid by Nanny and made to change into my dress for funeral before I could get here. He does seem to be healthy enough."

Keith was staring, Lance didn't blame him, she was beautiful, and she looked like a bride and he saw Keith thinking all the things he'd been thinking because how could Keith not be. Keith swallowed, then he seemed to pale a bit and he backed up. "Uh, we should go, get to the Church, I want to triple check security, crowds are turning up already according to Pidge and he says a lot of them edgy about the idea it's a Seer getting a Heroes funeral."

Allura sighed, shook her head but Lance saw the fire flash in her eyes. "Because she's a hero, was a hero. Altea was a hero the entire time she was enslaved by Zarkon. And she saved Lance, saved him, if she hadn't done, if she and Fin hadn't..." she turned to Lance tears in her eyes.

"She'll get her funeral, I promise," Lance said and he saw Keith squeeze Allura's hand.

"Allura, it's going to be okay. I have made sure security has eyes on everything and there is no way anyone or anything can get to the altar. Tarus, Arus and Mira didn't come, as you know..."

"Which is wrong," Allura snapped.

"Yes," Keith said, sincerely, putting a hand under her chin and tipping her face up so she'd look him in the eye. "But it's for the best, Tarus made the the decision for his family and he was right. Fin and Coran are both by the altar, as are Hunk and Pidge. The Arusian Guard is on it, and well... I saw Coran speaking to two men I didn't recognize but walked like soldiers, I think he put more men out there."

"The Underground guards," Lance said.

Keith's eyebrows rose subtly but he said nothing. "We need to go. Lance are you armed?"

"Of course."

Keith nodded, then started to pull Allura with him. Allura floated behind him but she turned back and looked at Lance, her eyes searching, looking at him and he shook his head at her. "I'm fine," he said to calm her concern for him.

She smiled at him but she didn't look convinced and she turned away from him and he walked behind her and Keith, walking arm and arm down the hallway her in a white dress, Keith sharp in his dress uniform and Lance sighed.

~~.~~

He'd never seen Tara in her wedding dress. It'd been strapless, with a full skirt and it hadn't looked like Allura's dress at all but the similarities startled him after he got past the initial shock of how stunning Allura had looked standing in the middle of Lance's quarters looking completely out of place in the middle of such of masculine place. She had a habit of that, showing up this amazing beauty and grace in places you would never expect to find it; just like that first day on Arus in the crumbling remains of the old Castle of Lions.

Then though it struck him it looked like a wedding dress, yet she was wearing it to a funeral but White was the color of death on Arus, much the old traditions from his own country of birth and soul. Then he'd seen Tara, before him and not Allura. It hadn't happened in a long time, it'd happened before when he first felt himself drawn to Allura, she'd move or laugh and he'd see Tara and guilt would slam into him and he'd shut down again.

This was different, he'd seen Tara and not in the dress Allura was wearing but in the one he remembered. In the one he had on this planet in storage that he hadn't been able to part with, along with a smattering of her things that he'd haphazardly packed, thinking he needed to keep this. It'd packed it all and never looked at it again, but he knew the dress was there, in a garment bag.

The flash had been brief, Tara's darker blonde hair had been down, she never wore it up like Allura; her green eyes looked at him with a glint of knowledge and she looked like she had something to say to him. She'd glanced down at what she was wearing and laughed, sharp and sweet and he knew it was at him. She was laughing at him in the way only Tara could and then it was gone.

And Allura was there looking sad, wary and tired like she'd been since her return from the moon. Lance was standing behind her, trying not to stare at her, trying not to soak up her beauty and Keith found he couldn't find it in him to feel possessive. Not now, it wasn't a time, it wasn't the point. He had things he needed to do, a funeral to ensure happened safely and smoothly. He had Allura to protect and support, he had to make sure Lance was okay to do this - not that anyone could stop him from attending the funeral of the woman who had died for him. Keith knew he would be there too in Lance's place. He understood.

He pushed the vision of Tara aside, he'd go back to her later, he'd meditate, he dwell on it in the silence and when he had the time. Her presence could have simply been a reminder he needed to open up about Tara to Allura. There hadn't been time but the way their lives worked time wasn't something that happened it was something you had to take and make your own. He had to make the time to give to Allura the things she needed from him, the things she deserved.

They made it to the castle's main gate and the horse and carriage was ready for them to enter. Coran and Nanny were already inside, Keith stopped by the side and helped Allura step up and into it. It was a bit of a production with the width of her skirt but with both him and Lance helping to hold onto the fabric she made it inside the carriage without messing up the dress and sat down between her two guardians. Keith than held out his hand to Lance, who stared at him and shook his head.

"I can make it in on my own, thanks."

Keith shrugged but waited outside just in case there was an issue with Lance's leg. Lance stepped up and Keith saw the slight wince and clench of his jaw but otherwise his second-in-command was fine and he sat down across from the other three. Keith climbed in after him, noticing again how hard Lance was trying not to look at Allura and hard he was losing the battle. Sitting down, his own eyes were drawn to her and he found himself caught by her own her eyes. He smiled shyly and she gave him a smile but it was sad one. Not the bright ones he craved, that he feared he'd become addicted to. The carriage took off and they were on their way to the Church. Keith said his own small prayer that the service would go smoothly.

~~.~~

His nerves were frayed, the crowd had been edgy, unwelcoming when Allura arrived, when Altea's body had been carried in and the ceremony had started with grumbling, until someone had stood up to inform Princess Allura they'd only come to protest this and then walk out. Lance had feared the worst at that moment as huge murmur of agreement surged behind him and then of course to his horror Lara had stood up.

She stood up looking beautiful in a simple white dress and announced she was here to honor the woman who saved Princess Allura and Commander McClain's life. Princess Allura wasn't honoring her as a Hero of Arus because she felt like it, she was doing so because it was the truth.

Another murmur had surged through the crowd, more questioning, less sure, because no one knew the whole story. Allura hadn't allowed it to be told, it'd been part of her plan to explain Altea's stories in full at her funeral. They hadn't been able to hide that the woman being buried and honored was a Seer because a Seer's funeral was different than the average civilian's, the Hero's honor's were an addition to initial ceremony.

Allura had told him in the carriage the Priest had been quite open with her, honest. He admitted to her that he was still speaking with the Seers, he was speaking their words slyly in all his sermons; he would give her copies and highlight the words and places that he'd taken their words of things they'd seen and advised him on, that he felt should be shared with the Arusian masses. Allura smiled for the first time that morning, a real smile as she told him the story and he'd felt his heart wrapping more around her. It was getting harder and harder to tell himself to ignore the feeling, to try talk himself out of it being true.

The ceremony had gone on because Allura had stood and walked to the altar, stood behind the pulpit, the Priest standing down and told the story of what happened to them on the moon. Romelle and Sven walked up after her and told their own stories about Altea, as they spoke Allura had asked him, in his head if he wanted to speak after them but he'd shaken his head. He couldn't, he didn't...

He had no words for this.

Fin had spoken last before the ceremony began. He spoke of their capture, of Altea watching her husband be slaughter before her eyes the first day they found themselves enslaved on Doom; not by Doom guards, or in the arena but by fellow slaves. She hadn't been able to scream or cry because she'd already sustained her injury, it had separated her and her husband. Fin had known who she was, she had tried to run to her husband, to attack his attackers. She would have told her secret then and died but he'd stopped her.

He'd kept her secret, and in return she'd helped him stay alive. Then she started to help them all stay alive. She told him she had no way of seeing their future as slaves for all she saw was what was happen on Arus. But she shared with him via telepathy as they grew closer what she saw, especially when the Voltron Force arrived. She became someone everyone relied on, she was silent but strong, reliable. She always could hide some water, hide some food, she always had extra rags for warmth. She would go without so the younger would be fed.

Fin told them about the moment she realized they had to help Lance and Allura on the moon. How she told him she'd seen the moment so many times and never understood until now that she was the other person with Fin but now she knew. She knew she was the one who was going to die but she was at peace. Fin told them all that Altea died at peace because she knew that in saving Commander Lance McClain she saved an important factor in the future peace of Arus. In saving Commander McClain she saved Princess Allura Arus's present and future.

Then the ceremony had started and no one had left, no one had walked out. Lance didn't know if any minds had been changed about the Seers, but Lance knew Allura had made them think by speaking out about the issue and how she was no longer going to ignore it and that her stand was that the Seers belonged in the light and as her advisors. He knew Sven, Romelle and especially Fin with his love shining through with each grumbled word had made them listen with their first hand accounts.

He was along with her now. Altea. She was on the pyre, waiting for it to be lit. He'd asked to do it, he'd asked to do it alone. Allura had agreed much to the priest surprise but Allura had told him it was okay and that Altea would be very honored to have Lance be the one to light the fire. He'd heard the priest mumbling to her about how it's usually a member of the cloth, family member or the King who does so and he had to chuckle.

Altea thought him the King. He didn't but she had. She'd been sure of it. She'd told him to stop fighting what he felt, but he didn't know how not to fight being told what was going to be. He'd been fighting being told what was what his entire life. Allura was his choice, as much as he was trying to make her not to be, but he wasn't hers. He placed his hand where he thought Altea's might be, she was shrouded in white and sighed.

"I'm honored, you shouldn't have done this. Allura. Your daughter. They need you more than anyone needs me," he shook his head. He was bad at this. He lit the match, the fire gleamed orange and bright in the dying days light.

Somehow it'd gone from morning to dusk, a Seer's Ceremony was long but beautiful. Lance hadn't felt the time but he noticed it now and he smiled. "Deserving all that time. They all sat still for it too, Altea."

Lance set the pyre on fire.

Then he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned and found himself looking into Altea's eyes, only he could see through them. He prided himself on the fact he didn't scream, or jump but he felt like his heart stopped for a moment.

"Don't do that!" he said

"I wasn't sure I would get to be a spirit. Guardian spirits are rare, King Alfor already is. I was afraid I wouldn't be allowed...to be here for Mira. I felt her praying for it, hoping but not too much to break her heart."

Lance nodded. "Why are you here then, go tell her."

"Because, My King, it is you I need to speak with at the moment," Altea said, shaking her head. "Also, Mira won't be able to see me until I'm ashes in an urn in her hands. You're a special case."

"No. No, I'm not," Lance argued, he felt tired of hearing it. He was a pilot, who liked to shoot at things and fly too fast, flirt and have a good time. Not special.

"You're my King, why I can appear to you before I'm fully passed through to the other realm, if that is not proof to you what is?"

"I can't, Altea, I cannot believe myself a king."

"Maybe you should rethink your definition of king then? I have one simple message, Lance."

Lance sighed and waited for her to deliver it.

"You need to remember."

"Remember?"

"You've forgotten something, important, it's in your head, you've seen it, heard it. You need recall it as it was meant to be remembered."

"Okay... what is it?"

Altea smiled a sly smile. "Remember," she said one last time before she vanished and a spark of fire behind him made him jump in his skin as the pyre really flared to life with fire.


	48. Chapter 48

Forty-eight

Allura changed in a pair of jeans and black T-shirt she'd managed to buy for herself during on the times she'd taking Pidge into the village for new clothes. She wanted to wear her new casual clothes more often but she was trying to be slow about placing the outfits into her routine. The idea was if she didn't bombard Nanny and Coran with it, they would understand she still understood her place as a Princess. It was a risk going to the meeting she had with Coran dressed so casually, with her hair down but she needed to feel unfettered. Her dresses were constricting, her tiaras pinched against her skull to stay on her head and when she had headaches from tension and worry they made it worse. She wasn't in the mood, she had too much on her mind, she needed a break. Not that she was going to ever truly have one, her life wasn't built for breaks.

Standing in front of Coran's door she took a cleansing breath and knocked. His voice came through the old wood, his office still being one of the few not to have an electrical system or an alarm. Lock and key alone shielded his den. She turned the knob, a sense memory of doing so since the time she could reach it until this moment flying through her mind. It hurt to be so disappointed in him now, hurt to be feel so much distance between them and she wanted it to be better but she didn't want to stop voicing her own opinion.

Coran didn't look up from the papers he was reading until she sat down in the chair that was hers. He then looked up, his brown eyes warm and Allura felt a weight lift off of her at the comfort in his gaze.

"Princess, you handled the funeral beautifully. I am unsure if it will effect change as you wish it will but it was an important start. You were correct," he paused. "What I wish is that you had come to me when you first heard about the Underground from Commander McClain and hadn't gone there yourself."

"You would not have told me everything Coran," Allura stated.

Coran sighed. "This is true, yet nonetheless I wish it. I can't help but want to protect you, Princess."

Allura smiled, she felt loved, secure but she wasn't a child. "You have to let know what is going on in my Kingdom. All of it, no matter the difficulty of the situation, the messiness. The Underground, the ostracization of the the Seers and the Sorcerers, Tarus has told me they are hidden as well. At first I didn't think much of it, I was too focus on protecting the citizens, on training with the team, on learning everything I could to be a worthwhile member. But then..." she trailed off, her brain trying to find another way to explain how she was reminded without saying: _trip to the future_. "Coran, with the planet truly starting to rebuild despite the tyranny of Doom still upon us, the lack of Seers especially became a void that I couldn't ignore. Not when I knew how important the Prophecies and finding the Prophecies were to Father, from you. You told me this, you shared his views with me, yet all this time you've been acting against it?"

Coran sighed. "There was nothing I could do, but hope that a few of them were remaining safe, Allura. Then when the young men arrived and they were able to bring Voltron back to us. The Underground came back, and I was able to put guards back, the sons of fathers came to me as I had hoped. I told them flat out it was the Castle's policy the Seer's be protected and they have kept them safe on occasions. It was all I could do Allura."

"And the fact Father disapproves about the Underground?"

"Allura, bring it into the light is not something that is feasible in a time of war."

"The war is making it worse, Coran. We cannot let those damaged by the war feel they must hide. Psychologically damaged souls from the war, or by birth in general shouldn't be hidden down there. They can be helped in the light and crime itself, gambling, the prosititution... it hides in plain sight on Earth, on all other planets. Why does it hide in secret here? It makes it so much worse, all the more shameful."

"You sound like your Father," Coran said with a half smile.

"Thank you."

"I am unsure if at this time it is a compliment," Coran admitted. "I don't disagree, Princess but I must advice and urge you to go slowly, Allura."

"Fine but I do wish to discuss how to move forward on changing things Coran, forming a plan, with Keith and Lance involved. I'm sure they'll both be a help."

"Captain Kogane, yes as it would fall under his duties to this Castle in working with the undercover guards I have in the Underground. I will be introducing him to them, he's asked to meet them earlier today. Commander McClain, I wonder what you feel he can offer?"

Allura frowned there was something in the way Coran said Lance's name, the way he was avoiding her eye as he spoke of him after conceding that Keith would, at least have to be involved and he hadn't sounded pleased about it, but at least he hadn't said Keith's name with so little...respect?

"Coran, do not respect Lance?"

Coran's mustache twitched, a sign he disliked the turn the conversation had taken and he busied himself by putting the papers in front of him into a folder. "Princess we need to discuss the Galaxy Alliance ball we will be hosting, the planets coming, and the opportunity for political connections."

"Would you have told Keith he was nothing? I know about the argument, Romelle told me everything. I verified it with, Lance. You should have never said any of those things," Allura felt her voice catch.

"I respect all the members of the Voltron Force, Allura. To do would not be respecting the lions, they would never choose someone unworthy to fly them."

Allura agreed with that assessment. "Then what is your problem with Lance?"

"I do not believe he's a good influence on you, Princess."

"That is a ridiculous assumption."

"Look at what you are wearing, before you became closer to that man you never would have donned such an outfit during the afternoon, nor to a meeting, Princess. You have a station to uphold."

"I will uphold it, but I am also a person and I want to be comfortable. It is true he is the first person I ever told that I would like to sometimes just wear a pair of comfortable pants and a top that aren't the the color pink. If his listening to that makes him a bad influence on me then I suppose he may be. But the truth is Coran, I've wanted this since before they showed up but I never had the courage to even admit it to myself. If anything it's been years of growth, and being with all of them as my friends, training and fighting with them. I can speak out for what I want. I need some casual comfort now and again. I..." she paused for a breath. "I was on that moon, we were awake nearly the whole time and I was crazed with worry. Then I was in the midst of a prophecy I knew was unavoidable and Lance was hurt, in pain and hallucinating. One of the strongest most amazing woman I have ever met died for us. Died for us and I had to tell her daughter how much she loved her, which made me think of my own mother. I knew the funeral would be stressing and it was and Lance is still out there, alone with her body and pyre blaming himself. Keith's still blaming himself for the stupid terrorist attack despite the fact we saved a village. And well, I have other personal things on my mind, if I want to be comfortable I'm going to be comfortable. It's not Lance's influence, it's my choice," she took another breath and then finished it off. "Don't try blame someone else for things I'm doing you dislike," she said, then thought she should have said only that in the first place.

Coran held her gaze and Allura tried not to blink as unshed tears stung her eyes. She was tired, she was emotional and she was ready to break. He sighed. "I see. Then he didn't put the idea of no chaperone with Captain in your head?"

Allura let out a frustrated breathe. "Coran, I know what is expected of me as the Crown Princess of Arus. I will not cross any lines I shouldn't with Keith. Keith is a man of honor and you know this. He has promised you and he does not break his promises."

"I am still unsure about your relationship with Commander McClain, the two of you seem far closer than a woman of your position should be, especially one who is openly being courted by another man."

Allura prayed the warmth in her cheeks at Coran's questions appeared to him as an angry flush instead of a flash of memory at her closeness with Lance. "Lance is special to me, Coran, I won't lie," she admitted and found herself pausing as she searched for the right words to help her go forward to what she wanted to say next. She wanted speak about how she had chosen to be with Keith and not Lance, but she couldn't find a way to get to that sentence without a but or an however after stating that Lance was special to her. Putting those words right after the truth like that felt to much like taking it back and she couldn't do it, but she knew she needed to tell Coran that Keith was her choice. What other choice did she have? Lance wasn't going to tell her his feeling. It would ruin Lance and Keith's friendship and she would never tear them apart. And she...she really didn't know what she wanted and it was too late anyway. As a Princess she couldn't say she wanted to test out her options.

"Yet you are openly being courted by Captain Kogane, Allura, at your own request, therefore..."

Coran's words saved her but she was afraid to let him finish so she interrupted him. "Yes, I have chosen Keith. I've always wanted to be with Keith, since the first time I met his eyes and saw someone who could understand me. Lance is special, yes," she paused thinking, so special. "He is but Keith is the man I've been dreaming of for almost three years now."

Coran frowned but it looked more like a parental frown to her at that moment than anything else. He nodded. "Very well, I will try to be more understand of the difference between the two relationships..." he trailed off. "Speaking of three years, Allura. The Ball will be held on the Three Year Anniversary of the boys being here. So it will be in three weeks, Sven and Romelle have agreed to stay here for the time; as they will be representing Pollux as Bandor can't get away from Pollux right now. What I want to discuss with you chiefly is the Princes of four planets."

Allura frowned, she didn't like the sound of this and she wondered if this was why she'd made an entry in her diary that said. _I hate this, hate this ball, I don't know what to do, why did I agree to any of this when I don't agree and Keith... I hate what I'm doing to Keith but I see no other recourse... Lance... Lance. _ The entry had looked like it went to the next page but there had been nothing there. There had been nothing for another three months and then she'd simply written. _I am so ashamed of myself_. She remembered shutting the journal and never opening it again until she returned home and all the pages were blessedly blank.

"I am aware this will make you unhappy but I would like you to hear me out. I have already discussed this with Captain Kogane, he has taken it under advisement and told me he will discuss it with you. With that in mind you do not have to make a decision now. But, Princess I do hope that you will agree with this."

Allura breathed in through her mouth and breathed out through her nose. "What about these planets and their Princes?"

"First there is Planet G'Lyc, it is rich in mineral ores and has a very rich soil, both things that exports that would be beneficial to Arus in the future. In return from us they could use help building up their educational systems and martial law. The Crown Prince, like you is an orphan of the war and the only survivor of his family, Prince G'Reth. Then there is planet..."

He went on and Allura listened, it was a similar story for each planet. They had things Arus would benefit from, one of which was of interest to Allura. The planet of Sy was known for its advanced theories and great doctors in the field of psychology; it could be paramount in having an alliance with them and her own doctors in helping out her people. The problem was she didn't want to pretend to be interested in their Crown Prince to do it. Coran's point was that all these planets were in the same boat as Arus, and politically it the correct card to play was for them to all believe that in three years that Princess Allura could choose to marry anyone of the princes of these planets of the Alliance. Coran was sure any reports of her relationship with Keith could be downplayed easily for the purposes of the planned subterfuge. Allura couldn't help thinking that Coran was hoping that in three years, Allura would be willing to truly entertain marrying one the Princes because it'd be easier, there would be no fighting of Arusian tradition for her to marry a Prince than it would if she chose a mate of no royal blood from Earth.

_Which I will do no matter who I_... she started to think but stopped short. _I have chosen_, she firmly reminded herself. The planets all offered Arus so much the idea that the simple act of her dancing and acting open to the idea of a royal match between the planets would benefit relationships was tempting. Yet it felt wrong, it made her feel like something was rubbing against her skin to hard, she wanted to run away from this decision.

"I'll discuss it with Keith," she said, but she knew, she knew already what side Keith was going to come down on.

Coran nodded. "Thank you for listening."

"Thank you, for listening as well." She stood up, smiling warmly at her guardian and she wished he'd allow her to hug him, but she knew he wouldn't. He smiled back, ever so slightly, then gave her a slight nod of goodbye.

Leaving the office, Allura decided to track down Keith and get the discussion about the ball over with. She wasn't sure what she was going to yet, she was more torn than she expected herself to be, despite how it felt like things were clawing at her skin every time she thought of playing the part of Princess who was fine with the idea of a match made on political royal decision. It was playing the puppet, she wasn't sure she truly wanted to be a puppet, that she could do it and not feel like she was giving up a part of her soul. The problem was she had to do what was best for Arus, and all these planets were in positions to be of great aid to Arus. It the Princes needed to think they could win her hand, or rather her planet - Voltron - to be an ally, if she had to play the game than maybe she had no choice but to play the game?

She found Keith in his room, his door slide open to him adjusting a red shirt on his frame; she sighed inwardly at the fact he'd put it on knowing it was her at the door. She'd seen him in less, in hospital beds countless times, and ever sense Lance had mentioned Keith had tattoos she'd been trying to figure out where they were hidden, and how he hid them so well.

His eyes slid over her but his expression gave nothing away about what he thought of her casual attire and flyaway hair. He stepped aside to let her into his room without an argument, which made her smile. Progress was progress. She walked inside and looked around his room, taking it in for the first time - second time. It didn't look at all like the one that was a shrine to him in the future. There were some basic things the same, same bureau, and there were a large amount books but there were more pictures of Japan the continent he was from on Earth and his Aunt and Uncle than of anyone else. It very clean, neat to the point it almost seemed as if Keith couldn't live in it, if it hadn't had any personal touches she wouldn't have known it was a room that was lived in. Lance generally kept his room from being a mess but you knew he dwelled in there, lived there. Something was out of place at all times. Nothing looked out of place at all in Keith's room. She didn't dare sit on the bed like she would in Lance's room, at least not until invited. She turned to face Keith, smiling at him a strange feeling of shyness washing over her as she met his dark eyes. "Hi."

"Before anything happens we have to go over the rules," he said.

She giggled, it burst out of her ribcage and it was the best feeling she'd had all day. "Oh, I needed that," she laughed.

Keith frowned and shook his head. "Allura, this is serious."

She attempted to school her features and stop her giggles but she had them now and it was impossible. The harder she tried, the more serious Keith looked, he got that look he got when people were goofing off when he was trying to get them correct their form in martial arts training. It was this irritated why-does-no-one-take-this-as-serious-as-me face, it was half mad and half puzzled. It made her laugh harder, she moved closer to him and touched her hands to his clean shaven face. "I'm sorry, it's just, you're being so you. It's nice."

He smiled then, shook his head and took hold of her right hand, moved back from her, making her other hand fall off of him. He kept hold of her right though and then kissed her palm. Allura felt the familiar tingle of warmth that rushed through every time he did that. It was old-fashioned, it was gentlemanlike and it was romantic, it fit in with all her thoughts and fantasies about when she'd been daydreaming about him without a thought he could think the same. Until he'd kissed her palm for the first time, it stilled the same power, because it was him. He was Keith.

"Are you going to stop laughing, now?" he asked.

Mirth still made her voice shake but she nodded as she answered. "I will try."

Keeping her hand in his grip he took them to his bed and sat down, both them on the edge, by the foot of the bed. "Rules. We keep an appropriate amount of space between us, no skin to skin contact, we do not stay alone for more than one hour. If we want to be together for longer, we still ask Lance to be our chaperone. Is that fair?"

Allura looked at their hands, then at his face and feeling cheeky said, "Then I can't hold your hand."

"Huh?"

"No, skin to skin contact. That means no hand-holding, no kissing either because lips have skin," she started to pull her hand out of his grip.

He tightened it and rolled his eyes.

"Keith, you're breaking your own rules. Oh, my goodness, I have to tell someone!" She stood up and tried to make it to the door. "If Lance isn't back, I'm sure I can find Hunk or Pidge. If not maybe a night guard," she threw out her hand slipped out of Keith's and he slipped arms around her waist and twirled her around so she was standing with her legs against the bed.

"Allura," he laughed, gazing down at her. "I don't know what to do with you."

"Rethink the no skin to skin rule, I think," she said.

Keith sighed. "Fine. Kissing and handholding are exceptions to the no skin to skin rule."

"And tongues, I mean do our tongues count as skin?" she asked, sincerely wondering was it a muscle or skin? it probably had a skin outer covering, she started to think when she forgot the question when Keith's lips pressed against hers.

It was right, easy and warm. Always the same, she thought and always nice. It always tingled throughout her whole being, she felt safe, secure, comfortable and loved. Keith dragged them to the bed, so they were sitting but he kept the distance between them and she wanted to break it. She wanted to need to climb onto him. The urge to be as close to him wasn't there like it'd been in the cave with Lance. It'd been lacking in the control room the other day and it wasn't here now. As amazing as kissing Keith was, as floaty and buzzy she felt in his arms she felt like she should be feeling more. Much more.

Keith was where she wanted to be, she knew from the way his fingers kept almost leaving her hips; now that she knew what was what she found all the signs apparent and wondered how she ever overlooked it despite her naiveté. He was slowing down their kissing, breaking off her mouth to kiss her neck and slow down his breathing and she guessed to calm his arousal. She felt his kissed against the softer skin behind her ear and didn't feel the trail of fire Lance had left despite the fact Keith's lips were warmer. She moved her grip from his waist to his neck and moved onto her knees on the bed, the moved made Keith's eyes go darker. She smiled thinking it a triumph and pressed their lips together, slid her tongue inside his mouth a deeply as she could. Keith groaned, his hands moved and she felt them on her skin, messing up her shirt but she didn't care as he pulled her closer finally. Now he was truly breaking one of his own rules, she pushed it more, kissing him harder, trying to ignite that spark that was missing and shouldn't be. She was sure it shouldn't be, it should be there for her and Keith too.

Keith moaned again, pulled her closer and it was then she felt his erection through the denim of her jeans against her thigh, similar to the way she'd felt Lance. Only this time her surprise wasn't shock, or an upturn arousal, it was a feeling of intense wrongness that caught her by complete and utter surprise that made her shout, "No." As she sprang back, her eyes wide where she fell back on her elbows on the bed trying to catch her breath.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter Forty-nine

Allura scrambled off the bed and turned her back to Keith, simultaneously trying to slow her breath and her thoughts. This wasn't right and it shouldn't be so wrong? Keith was her dream and it was a dream rooted in reality. Respect, friendship and a common wavelength with a real bond between them. Being pressed against him, feeling his arousal for her should have sparked the fire. It was supposed to spark the fire, she felt tears stinging her eyes and she blinked furiously to try to hold them back. Keith's hand touched her shoulder, a cautious touch, she could barely feel his palm through the fabric.

"Allura," he said and he sounded a bit panicked, it made her wonder how long he'd been calling her name. If she'd been not hearing him as she panicked herself about how wrong all of it had been.

Biting her bottom lip she turned around, praying to the Arusian Gods her tears stayed unshed, and faced him. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She was. She never should have pushed it to that point, it'd been a mistake because now she knew something she didn't want to know, and she was unsure if it could be changed, or fixed. What did she do?

"No, no," Keith argued, shaking his head and taking her hands in his but keeping the usual respectful distance between them. "It's my fault, I... it was my fault, Allura. You're not ready and it's okay you're not ready."

_Oh, Keith_.

It wasn't his fault, she'd deliberately pushed him over the edge, he'd thought she was in the dark about the level of his attraction to her until this moment. It was sweet, and infuriating. She shook her head feeling she should take on some accountability, not that she had any intention of telling him the whole truth but he hadn't acted alone. "No, it wasn't..."

"It was. I promised myself, Allura. I promised myself I would go at the pace you needed me to go at. I pushed you past that tonight. I let your eagerness well..." he trailed off shaking his head, a resolved expression forming on his face. "No, I should've been stronger."

Allura rolled her eyes. "It wasn't simple eagerness, Keith. I wanted more, I did..." she couldn't tell him she hadn't expected to feel like she'd taken a wrong turn when she pressed against him like that.

"You got more than you were ready for and I'm sorry. This room, it's a bad place. We shouldn't meet in private areas, Allura, at least not this enclosed. I..."

"Chaperones," she said. She didn't really believe she was hearing herself say it. "We should ask Lance to stay as our chaperone."

Keith nodded. "It, it helps to keep us aware of who we are, the traditions we need to uphold and that we need to time to talk. We say we want to be closer to each other to learn more about the other but we haven't really done any talking, Allura."

"Things seem to keep getting in the way," Allura whispered. "Then when I see you I want to be closer in other ways." She thought about how she'd wanted to bring about the fiery passion she'd felt in the cave with the man she'd always thought she had passion for. Her mind was spinning. Maybe she was doing something wrong, maybe she and Keith were doing something wrong? Keith he felt it, there was no mistaken he was feeling things she wasn't when they kissed and touched.

"I know, but we've got time now. The planning for the Ball won't take up too much time. We'll have time in the two weeks before it."

The Ball. Allura sighed and pulled her hands out his. "I talked to Coran."

Keith nodded but he waited for her continue talking.

"He told me that he wants me to appear open to a royal match with the four Princes of the four planets who are in the best positions to aid Arus. There are political reasons to be have a working relationship between all four planets and Arus, good reasons. It would be beneficial for the people if all four were to in good faith form export/import and other contracts of give and take with us," she admitted.

"I agree with him, Allura," Keith admitted.

"I know. I mean, I knew you would." She smiled at him to let him know she wasn't mad. She wasn't, not really, it wasn't anger. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was that bothered her about it all. "I, uh, so you are okay with this plan?"

"Yes. It's for Arus' benefit."

Allura sighed. "I need to sleep on it, I think."

"I'll back you up with Coran, no matter your choice is, Allura but I do think you should agree to it," Keith said. "It's one Ball, a few dances. We have all the time we need."

Time. Allura wondered what time she had Keith had, all the time they needed as Keith believed or something else completely. She nodded and forced a smile. "I will think about it and give it a fair shot. I promise," she said.

"Good," Keith said. He bent down to kiss her goodbye, hands landing on her hips and it felt like it always did, yet her instinct was to move away and when his lips landed they got her cheek as she pecked his.

"Sweet dreams, Keith," she whispered not trusting her voice, and she left his room quickly. She hated was leaving him thinking he'd pushed her too far when that was a lie. It was the opposite, she'd been pushing to find something that may not even be there. She didn't want to think that was possible.

She hadn't spent over year and a half of her life, dreaming and pining for a man that was unsuitable for her, Keith was suitable, he was Keith. He was strong, brave, noble and the truest of gentleman. It was why he took all the blame, it was why he was turning himself inside out to fit into Arusian Tradition for her. It wasn't what would be expected from him on Earth. He was making so many sacrifices.

She hit the chime of Lance's door. She needed to talk to him. How she would phrase the questions without revealing what had occurred in the cave she didn't know but he was the only one she could ask about sexual chemistry.

Nothing happened, she frowned, it was late. He should be back from the pyre by now, he should be resting and in bed. She sighed, she wouldn't rush him from Altea's funeral pyre. Lance had to give his thanks and his goodbyes his own way. She pushed in her override code and walked into his room, then she walked over the bookcase and browsed through his movies. She'd choose something to watch while she waited.

~~.~~

Dirty Dancing's menu screen was on the flat screen Lance had up on his wall opposite his bed. The TV the only light illuminating his room and Allura on his bed. She was asleep hugging one of his pillows. He smiled, choosing not to wonder why she'd been watching Dirty Dancing in his room. He did wonder how she'd managed to find his copy of the movie. Because he had it hidden well on the shelves of the bookcase he used as a DVD stand. It was in the hidden section he liked to think of as his Sentimental Favorites but the guys would give him hell about it, given how he adamant he was about guys not watching Chick Flicks. Leave it to Allura to find one of his dirty little secrets, he thought shaking his head with a smile.

It struck him in that moment that seeing Altea's spirit had lightened his guilt more than he realized about her death. He'd always feel guilty, he'd always feel awkward and wrong about his part in Arusian prophecies even if he knew he couldn't hide from the existence of them. It was Altea's words about him remembering something that were looping in his mind more than anything. He folded his dress uniform and put it on a chair to put into a garment bag for Nanny to take off to Castle dry cleaning later. Went to his bureau and grabbed a new pair of boxers and walked into the bathroom.

True was his brain felt like swiss cheese. He couldn't really remember his fall into the river. He'd taken a similar fall once on the planet Lyra, but he'd been uninjured and it hadn't been as far of a fall. Luck is the only way he can even imagine he survived the fall, landing in water or not. He's not to worried about not remembering the fall, or how ended up waking up on a piece of driftwood going towards mountains rather the waterfall. He remembers flashes of being under water and swimming up, grabbing onto wood, thinking of looking for mountains because of what Allura shared with him. He wasn't trusting his life to destiny, only his own damn hands. Then he found the cave, mistakenly thought he was save and was going to let himself pass out for a moment when he remembered as it happened that he fell through the floor of the first cave he found.

After that waking up with Allura already there things were spotty at best and black holes at worse. In between all of that there were intense dreams and hallucinations. Too many about Allura, enough about Allura that he'd been terrified he'd said something to her by accident when he woke up. Only Allura seemed fine. If he'd said or done any of he things he'd a hallucinated or dreamed she wouldn't feel safe alone with him, let alone fall asleep on his bed.

He splashed water onto his face and stared at himself in the mirror. "If she only knew what you want from her," he thought and he shook his head. "Never," he whispered. He wasn't the right guy. The right was Keith. Everyone knew it, everyone expected it and most importantly it was what Allura wanted.

He did wonder though if what Altea meant was something that happened in the cave, that he didn't remember because of he'd been so out of it from his infection. Thinking about that he picked up the bottle full of antibiotics he neded and opened it. Gorma had only allowed him out of the medical wing by making him promise to report for physical therapy every morning starting monday at 0600 sharp, and to take every damn pill in the bottle on schedule until it was empty with out missing one pill. His watch had gone off while he was walking back, what Gorma didn't know about one pill wouldn't kill Lance he figured. He swallowed the pill, then pushed off his boxers, when to the bathroom and turned on the shower for a really quick shower.

It was in the shower he started to wonder why Allura was in his room. It wasn't normal that was for sure. If anything she should be sleeping in Keith's bed. With the no more chaperone rule at her behest he was sure she'd been in Keith's room at some point during the night. He smirked, wondering how Keith's resolve was doing when it came to the Princess of Arus must remain a Virgin Rule. He'd break it, Keith wouldn't. Lance didn't get it but Keith believed in rules about like about honor and purity and blah blah blah.

Lance's thought was if you were in love and were as attracted to someone as he knew Keith was to Allura and he figured Allura was starting to catch up to Keith a bit more why in the hell would you wait? What the Aruisan Public didn't know wasn't going to hurt them. Plus Arus could do with a lot less of it's crapass dark age traditions.

He hopped out of the shower and pulled on the pair of boxer shorts with the Millenium Falcon all over them, and opened the door to his room. Allura was sitting up, watching a late night Arusian movie on the television. She smiled. "The shower woke me up."

"Sorry about that," he said.

"Don't be. I mean it's your room. I broke in, I was surprised to find Dirty Dancing in your collection."

Lance ran his hand through his wet hair, frowning and then crossed the room to pick up his alarm clock and set it for 3 am to wake him up for his next antibiotic dose. "About that, tell the guys about it or any of the the other movies with it..."

"Like Beauty and Beast?" Allura grinned a hint of deviousness that Lance knew was a streak in her a mile long flashing in her blue blue eyes.

"Especially like Beauty and Beast!" he snapped.

Allura giggled, which was a gorgeous sound Lance told himself to get a grip and remind himself he was her friend. It was getting harder, he couldn't even talk himself into the lie he wasn't in love with her anymore. He'd try but his own laugh would echo back at him inside his head.

"Promise," he said, sitting down on his bed, glaring at her best he could.

"Don't worry, this secret is as safe as all the rest."

Lance laughed at that. "I guess in the scheme of things this one isn't that big but I'm grateful."

Allura nodded but her smile faded and she got a faraway way too serious look. He reached out and pushed her hair behind her left ear, it was an excuse to touch her but he also needed to make her look at him. Her eyes moved from the television which she'd been staring at but not seeing to him and she opened her mouth and then closed it.

"They want me to pretend I'm open to a political royal marriage, at the Ball. There are four specific planets, all of them would be a great aid to Arus now and especially in the future as we rebuild. Both Keith and Coran say it's the best way to ensure the initial relationships with them planets. I, I think I may have to agree to it. But I don't want too," she whispered.

Remember. Was this it? Was it not about the cave at all. Was it about the Ball and what he'd read in the future in regards to it? He shook his head at her and he sighed. "Don't, you'll regret it. I read it in the future, Allura. You come to me some night, you spend most the night crying until I make you laugh and you fall asleep. Keith finds you here in the morning. He and I have this huge fight, where I accuse him and Coran of whoring you out. It's..."

"Whoring me out?" Allura's eyes widened. "That's a bit too crass don't you think."

"It boils down to it, Allura. You don't even who these guys are. These Prince's and do they want you, or Voltron? Or Arus's position in the Denubian. This planet is stratgetically located at the edge of the system, any exploration beyond this planet, Arus will have a front row seat. And back to Voltron. Then there is just that plain fact that those planets they need Arus as much as you need them... Voltron or not, royal marriages or not. The marriage isn't needed for you to bring them in Allura, you can do it on Arus's strengths alone. On your own merits and I'm talking about the fact your a single Princess..." he spilled it all out, the things that entry had inferred he hadn't said before.

Allura nodded and then she frowned again. "I don't know what to do. You didn't tell me this before, did you?"

"No. Not before hand anyway, not until after you made your decision I think."

"Now I have more to think about but I wasn't, I wasn't really going to bring that up at all. I came in to ask you something completely different."

Lance stared at her and shook his head. "Okay," he said. "Is something else putting that sad look on your face." She looked haunted and he knew it wasn't about Altea, he'd seen her grief for Altea. This was something else, and he thought it was about her being unsure if she should go along with Keith and Coran when she mentioned the Ball. Yet she'd taken what he said rather... distantly really. He wondered if she'd really heard him, he'd been about to ask when she said she had something else she wanted to say.

"I need talk to you about sex."

Lance laughed, it was nervous laughter, because sex was the last thing he wanted to think about right now. It was there though running through his mind, how could not be. He was on his bed, next to Allura. She looked amazing with her hair down, simple black shirt and pair of jeans, the whole look suited her more than the proper pink Princess look she'd been cornered into as a child and hadn't found a way out of until recently. She was beautiful, intelligent and fucking perfect. "Sex?"

"Sexual fire, or spark, energy... I don't know whatever you want to call it."

"Uh, okay."

Allura sighed, teeth on her lower lip, her nervous habit when really troubled or scared. It was endearing and he shouldn't think it was sexy but he did. He could feel her thinking, literally, his head could feel the thoughts if he couldn't make them out. He had a feeling she didn't know she was thinking so hard that he felt the push of it mentally inside his own head. She frowned then out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know how to word the question."

Lance shrugged because he was lost.

"Give me a minute," she muttered and started to play with the ends of her hair, teeth against her lower lip, eyes serious and staring at the television but seeing nothing but the thoughts in her mind. She was killing him slowly, Lance thought and he wasn't a good man he was going break someday and make her hate him.

It'd be the worse day of his life.

"I mean what is the difference between lust and love?"

"I don't know," he said.

"Lance?" Allura sighed.

"Well, I don't, Allura. I've never kissed or been with th..anyone I've been in love with," he said, not believing he almost said he'd never been with the woman he loved, like she wouldn't lock in on that and wonder why he hadn't just said Lara.

"But.." Allura stared at him. "Oh, but...okay what's it like with Lara."

Lance sighed, he did not like this conversation. "It's...sex," he said unhelpfully.

"Lance!" Allura yelled.

"What?"

"Will you stop hedging, tell me, please."

"Damn it Allura, what the fuck do you want to know. What it's like to fuck her?"

Her hand came out, slapped him, Allura gasped, and the hand flew to her mouth. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Yes."

Lance moved his jaw a bit because Allura packed a punch, even with an open palm and he was sure he'd misheard her. "Did you just slap me and then say yes?"

Blushing Allura nodded.

"No," Lance sighed and he got off his bed, stood in the tiny area between his bed and the door to the bathroom, there was no where to go. He walked over to the television, looked for the off button on the television itself and turned it off just for something to do. The room would've gone completely dark, if he hadn't left the light on in the bathroom.

"Did you say no?"

Lance steeled his resolve. "I, I, yes. I don't think talking to you about sex with Lara, is that good of an idea."

"Fine, then tell me about sex with someone else," Allura said.

"What?"

"Someone else like Lara, who you are attracted to the same way."

Lance was getting a headache. "Wh..wha..what it is the point we're leading to here?"

Allura let a out frustrated growl, she stood up and stalked over to him and pointed her finger at him, the tip grazing his chest. "Just answer me!" she demanded.

"Not until I know the reason we're having this whacked out discussion."

"What is so whacky about me wanting to know what sexual lust and chemistry is like compared to love!"

"For one thing, I've never been with y..." Lance growled, what the fuck was wrong with him; _Stop almost slipping up McClain_. "Anyone I love, so wrong guy to ask."

"But that's..." she stopped short. "Lance, we..." she started and she trailed off again and looked down at her feet.

Lance reached out with his hand, lifted her chin met her gaze, her eyes were swimming with confusion, and what wasn't really anger but he didn't know what else to call it. "Baby, what's wrong?"

She made a whimpering noise, blinked and the tears fell. "Something happened with Keith and it went all wrong and I don't know what to do," she whispered.

"What?" he asked because had not idea what that meant.

Allura moved into him, wrapping her arms around him, pushing her face into his neck, and holding on tightly. "Just hold me, please, Lance, if you can't tell me anything, or help just hold me."

He was helpless, he ran one hand up her back and told himself she only shivered because of the unexpectedness of the touch, then he said, "Okay, okay." His hands moved to her waist and he lifted her only enough so he walked them both to the bed, he settled her down on it and she moved out of his arms only long enough for them both lay back down, then was snuggled into him again. Lance knew he was crossing a line but he didn't care, not when she wanted it. He didn't care she probably didn't know what she was doing.

Picking up the dvd case for Dirty Dancing off the table where Allura left it, Lance tossed it at the bathroom door making it close enough to plunge them into a decent enough darkness to fall asleep.


	50. Chapter 50

Fifty

Keith was making them omelets. Tara was pretending reading the paper and ignoring the phone. Keith shook his head as he chopped the spinach, watching as Tara stared at the paper, trying to look as if she wasn't purposely ignoring her cellphone.

"Tara?"

"Yes," she said sounding distracted.

"When did you learn to read upside down?"

Her eyes focused then on the paper and she laughed. "Never."

Keith frowned she hadn't said that, had she... was he remembering this wrong. Wait, he was dreaming this wasn't morning, he wasn't awake making him and his fiancee breakfast. This wasn't, he felt his throat tighten as he realized the day it was and he turned off the stove.

"Don't answer the phone," he said.

Tara set down the paper, she looked at him with an expression he'd never seen before. "I can speak to you tonight, Altea's passing to the realm she is stepping into for her next life makes its possible. I've been wanting this chance for so long, Keith."

But then she sighed, "I supposed you right," she said, going back on script, back to the past as it was. "I can't ignore my mother forever," she admitted and she picked up the phone. "Hello, mom. Yes, yes... No. I guess we can, okay. 2 O'Clock, no we won't be late."

We will be late, Keith thought, in face we never arrive. You die and everything changes. "Tara, why?"

"Because it can't change. The past, it's locked in. Only the present and the future are fluid. The past is what it is Keith, unless there are visited footsteps walking among it... It can happen you know?"

"What can?"

"Time travel, be open."

"Tara," Keith said, rolling his eyes.

She stood up. "I know you saw me before the funeral, when you first saw Allura in her dress, before the differences in the dressed made themselves known to your observant eyes. Split second you saw what it would be light to see me, laughing right after our wedding."

Tears were threatening to escape his eyes. Keith fought to hold them back, clenching his jaw, he didn't give into the emotion often, a dream of his dead fiancee wasn't going to undo him.

She smiled, walked closer and kissed his cheek the moment a tear escaped his right eye and caught it with her lips. "It's okay to let people see how much you feel. They all know you, they know your heart."

The press of her lips awakened a feeling he'd forgotten about. Whenever they'd touched he'd felt like he had the first time he'd his father had taught him a martial arts move. Thrilled, proud, excited to find out more about this new and wondrous thing he'd learned about. Coupled with the warmth of a blanket, a cup of tea and a good book on a rainy day - his favorite kind of day. He'd known the first time he'd held her hand he wanted to marry to Tara, to be with her forever.

"You keep thinking you've missed something when it comes to Allura, but the truth is this Keith. Something's missing," Tara said, then she pressed her mouth to his. Keith closed his eyes, let his hands find her long dark hair, it'd always been so soft and it felt the same even in this dream. The kiss shot like lightning down his spine but when he went to pull Tara closer she'd vanished away.

He went to scream but instead he shot awake in his bed, breath ragged and sweating with only the sense memory of holding Tara again and nagging feeling that she'd told him something important. Something important about himself, or about Allura? Or, about him and Allura? Only it felt wrong to think that Tara would ever speak to him about Allura. Or, was that him feeling wrong for thinking about Allura when he felt like he could taste Tara's lipstick on his lips as if they'd kissed only moments ago.

Everyone was right about one thing, Tara was wrapped around his heart more strongly than he realized. He'd pushed her away to concentrate on the assignment. It'd come so soon after her death, it'd been the perfect excuse to compartmentalize and push his grief away. Then Allura had smiled at him one and he felt the sunrise on his face again. But he'd never dealt with losing a woman he loved, that he planned to marry, that he planned to raise a family with.. If she'd been his wife when he got to Arus he would have sent for her, to live her and have that family, knowing she'd understand, and agree. Knowing she'd be in the villages of Arus herself helping people herself, doing whatever she could to be of use.

An entire different existence for him except it couldn't be because a car had run a red light and hit Tara, while he was answering a call from his Aunt and had falling behind. Can't change the past, flickered through Keith's mind and he sighed. He believed in that, he had to accept what was here and he knew his heart was with Allura now, he wanted to built from their friendship and attraction, he loved Allura...

It wasn't the same as with Tara, no. He never had a moment of yes I will make her my wife. She will be my life. But he had moments of Allura must be protected, Allura is precious, Allura is a treasure. Allura is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Allura is true of heart. Allura is amazing. Allura's smile can make my whole day better because of the light behind it. To know Allura is to love her. It'd grown over time, from protecting her out of duty to protecting her because if harm came to her he'd feel pain himself. He'd feel as if he failed her, not Arus but Allura and himself.

Keith moved out of his bed, his eyes falling at his digital clock. It was 1:47 am, hours before he usually went out but he needed to clear his head. He'd had more than one dream in his life that had turned into some kind of portent and he'd found the harder you tried to bring the back the more muddy they became. He needed a clear head and the best ways he had to clear his head were to run and to do tai chi. He would take a quick run around his route, then go into the gym and do his tai chi routine and maybe he'd cause a more solid memory of his dream about Tara rather than only the ethereal misty one his mind held now.

~~.~~

Coran barely touched flame to candle wick when Alfor appeared to him. It startled him, but he hid the shock and bowed respectfully to his King. But as he lifted his head and saw the face of Alfor, he let out the sigh of a man with too much on his mind. The sound of someone who had come to talk to a friend.

_Old friend, you make it harder on yourself._

Coran chuckled as memories of similar phrases from Alfor over the years flew through his mind. "As always, you mean, my dear friend?"

_Yes. Tarus will be a great aid to you, all of the Seers will. Mira especially to Allura, and the Voltron Force._

Coran ran his fingers over his mustache, he eyed Alfor. In his heart he knew the Seers were needed, he did embrace him. His only worry was the people, it would not be easy to undo the hate the war had instilled in them. What Coran was more curious about however was the known prophecies they had, the very few known prophecies that they had. "Why is it I cannot see the prophecies within your tomb?"

_Allura is not ready to face them. Until she is ready, I am keeping the secrets for her. It's my duty as her father, I'm afraid._

"As her guardian, I feel very much as her father, my King. I never meant to overstep any boundaries..."

_You worry much too much about boundaries and rules, Coran. As Commander McClain might say; lighten up._

Coran eyes widened. "You are quoting Lance?"

Alfor's spirit moved forward and around Coran, making Coran turn around and they were nose to nose, making it so Coran could see Alfor's eyes. Alfor's spirit form was substantial enough one could still read expressions and cues from his face.

_You should reassess your current opinion of him. At the moment you are being far too protective. I know you respect his skills, I know at times you have thought him quite right and Keith to cautious. Allura trusts him for a reason, Coran. Trust in Allura._

Coran rubbed at his mustache again, he saw the sincerity in his friends eyes. "As a soldier, and as pilot - especially a pilot, he's even better than you were my friend..."

_I know._

"It is just... Alfor, he lacks diplomacy to put it politely and Allura is very sheltered, partly because of the war and partly yes, my own and Nanny's overprotectiveness... But he's a very..."

_The fact that Lance McClain has brought many women to the Castle and now he spends time alone with Allura worries you._

Coran nodded, relieved Alfor had found a way to put his concern into words.

_If I were alive it would worry me too. I might perhaps attempt to put the fear of the Gods into him... Being where I am now, knowing what I do gives one a different perspective on these things. All that matters is his heart. What would you say is Lance's heart, Coran?_

Coran didn't have to think hard on the topic, it was clear to him. "Like them all his heart is that of a true hero. He saves people without a second thought, he doesn't ask for thanks. He'll fly into danger for strangers and if its for Arus or for one of his teammates he'll work himself into a stupor. He's loyal to fault. Lastly, perhaps out of all them, even the less outwardly emotional Keith, he protects his heart the most."

_Yes._

Coran took a deep breath. "The Seer. Mira. She said some odd things about Lance, Alfor."

_I am aware._

Coran studied his friends expression. "Are they true?"

_You have seen for yourself his connection to the Lions. Do you not trust your own experience?_

Coran shook his head and tried to find the words to express his hesitation about the things Lady Mira had spoken about Lance to him during their ill-advised fight. "It was more her inference that his connection goes beyond the Lions to Arus itself, Alfor."

Alfor smiled, a knowing, mysterious smile.

Coran searched for the right words to achieve the answer he sought. "I do realize that the Lions themselves are connected to Arus, Voltron is a part of Arus. However, Lance is a man from Earth. He is not Arusian, it's odd to me that would have such a gift. I took it at first to be a part of his piloting instinct, his strong connection to Red. He's also demonstrated a good gut instinct for trouble, I suppose. But to be someone Arusian Seers are seeing in such rare Fixed Prophecies as a man of such importance... to our future. It confuses me and it isn't that I don't like or respect him. It's that he's young, he's brash and he..."

_Lacks diplomacy... I recall that I myself lacked the skill most of my life. Railing against it much to my parents and teachers woes..._

Coran snorted. "My King, this is an entirely different situation."

Alfor nodded. _ In time you will understand Coran. Be prepared for surprises, something will go wrong, someone unexpected will turn up and there will be revelations._

As the last work was spoke Alfor faded away and Coran was left feeling a little less weight on his shoulders but rather confused as usual. "Something will go wrong?" he muttered and glanced at his watch. "2:45. Too early to do anything official but he better go to his office to make a note to ensure security was extra cautious for the upcoming Ball.

~~.~~

(Italic)_He pressed his lips against Allura's, thankful she'd allowed him this one kiss and instantly knew it'd never be enough. He couldn't regret though, he'd make the most of it, he though slipping his tongue inside her mouth._

Lance grunted in sleep, turned toward the woman sleeping his arms, tightening the hold he had on her. Nose buried in her hair, the dream he was having flashed through time.

_**I want you to kiss me**, Allura whispered into his ear. It sent fiery heat down his spine straight to groin but it was more than that. She was saying,(Bold) I want you Lance. Maybe it was only for this moment, this time, this strange place where they were where the truth could surface - it was safe for him to speak it here, he felt that though he didn't understand why._

_He kissed her immediately, pulling her full body into his wanting her as close to him as possible. Wanting to allow himself to have Allura, against him, to taste her and to try to show how he felt. It wasn't about sex, for once in his life this wasn't about sex. He felt too vulnerable but if he could be so exposed it was with Allura. She saw through him anyway half the time, hiding that he'd fallen for was his hardest secret. He could barely lie to himself._

_He wanted to tell she was the strong, intelligent, perfect woman for him, that elusive high standard he'd created in his head that no one would ever live up to because it was impossible. Only Allura did the impossible all the time and she'd done this too. She was his one._

Lance let out a groan in his sleep, as Allura in hers turned more into his arms, causing them to be face to face, their bodies to align to in a different way. His hand was on her hip, he pulled her into him. Allura sighed and her own hand gripped his hip tighter.

_She touched him in ways that were amazing. Unsteady, inexperienced, nervous but they all felt sincere. He knew he wasn't her dream, he knew this couldn't happen again. He kept trying to push away the thought he wouldn't have her again and focus on the present moment and it was easier than not with her hands against his skin, her lips against his throat, against his mouth, the way she'd make him chase her tongue. Allura was perfect._

His lips hit Allura's cheek, then the corner of her mouth in his sleep. Allura moved into the sensation, her hand moving to his chest. They both let out a murmur in unison.

(Italic)_ He never wanted this dream to stop, he thought as he pulled her against his body, wanting her to know what she did to him. Knowing it wouldn't go any further but he wanted her to know and he was positive she understood it was more than arousal, it was more than anything he'd ever felt before. He lacked the words._

He kissed her mouth, tongue sliding in against hers. Allura's hand was on his face and their legs completely tangled. He wasn't asleep anyway but he wasn't awake. He kissed her and pulled her against himself, she moaned and grabbed onto him, pushing herself against him more, kissing him back.

The blaring beep of his alarm clock cut through the haze in his mind, he sprang away from the woman in his arms, soldier instincts reaction to the alarm before he ascertained it was his alarm clock. Staring at Allura, who was staring back at him eyes as wide as his, hand on her mouth, he reached without looking and turned off the clock.

"Go back to your room," he said, like it was an order but he couldn't think of anything else to do. What the hell was he supposed to do? He hurried out of the bed, trying to hide an arousal he knew she knew about it'd been pushing against her thigh. "I'm going in there...to take the antibiotic, just, just go back to your room before anyone notices you're gone," he added, his voice softer, less Commander more him.

"Lance," Allura called after him.

He went into the bathroom, he wanted to shut the door and shut her out. He didn't want to talk about it, it would lead to... It would to them talking about her and Keith. He grabbed the pill bottle, focusing on opening it because as much as he wanted to shutting a door in Allura's face wasn't going to happen.

"Lance, what were you dreaming?"

He paused because that wasn't what he was expecting her to say. He was expecting her to be upset, confused, freaking out they'd been all over each other and then his cock... He breathed in and looked at her. "What?"

"What were you dreaming?"

"Uh," he tried to recall the images and flashes of things he'd seen. Something with him, with her; he'd been having the same dream every night since they'd gotten back from the moon. Not that he minded, it was a good dream. Great even, not that he really could recall any details. "I can't really remember it, Allura. I didn't mean... I mean kissing you was...but..."

"Don't you dare apologize."

"I..." he stammered.

Allura bit her lip. "I...you, I... Damn it, Lance will you fucking remember the cave already, I can't do this anymore on my own. REMEMBER!" She yelled, pushed him in the chest, then turned on her heel and stalked out of his room.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter Fifty-one

Antibiotic pills scattered all over Lance's bathroom floor. He dropped the bottle as he sprinted after Allura, out of his room, paying no attention to the fact he was in his boxers and nothing else. He caught up to her at the main hall junction where there was a crossroads of hallways to choose from. Stopping her from heading down the hall way toward her room, grabbing hold of her and putting his body between her and the space to run.

"You said nothing happened, Allura. I asked you if I did anything and you said nothing happened," he accused.

"What does it matter, you don't even remember it, Lance," Allura snapped back, trying to tug free and only succeeding in making herself stumbled backward pulling him with her a bit down the hallway.

"If it didn't...I..." Lance trailed off, he didn't even know what it was he pushing for details on but he needed to know. "Allura, did something happen or not in that cave?"

"I took care of you," she spat. "Though, I'm wondering why." Her free hand came up and wiped at her eyes.

"Allura, that prophecy?"

"What about the prophecy?"

"It well, most it of it came true, so, um, are you not telling me something I should know, here?" Lance asked, his mind spinning, his dream no less hazy but snapping into a context he wasn't sure he was ready to face.

Tears rained out of Allura's eyes as she stopped trying to get free of him, stopping their odd struggling dance down the hallway. "Damn it," she swore, wiping at her face with her free hand and she gave him a look that was new, where she looked pissed as hell at him but wanted him to help her all at once. "If, if the prophecy happened fully what would you think?"

He kissed her? Is that what she was saying? They'd kissed? Had it been like it was less than ten minutes ago in his room, half asleep and not fully aware but knowing damn well he wanted more? "We...I... We just kissed Allura," he whispered.

"I know, but I'm not talking about that kiss. I'm asking you about the cave. Lance what about the cave?"

"Allura, was in my room just now the first time we kissed or not, stop dodging the question."

"When you stop dodging my question, I'll stop dodging yours," Allura shouted and yanked herself free. She was down the hall again, long hair flying behind her like a whip. Lance hurried after her, thankful his calf was healing, he caught up to her again before the next turn toward the wing of the Castle her room was located.

"What the hell is your question, exactly, what do you want to know, Allura?"

"Are you still running from it?"

"From?"

"Us, the married version. Are you still running from them?" she asked, her voice low and small. She looked at him with water filled eyes looking both wise and young in that way only she could accomplish.

"Aren't you," he asked back. Because fine, for a while there the idea of him married much less to Allura had seemed insane but somewhere along the line it'd become one of his biggest crazy-ass wishes. A wish that didn't matter because of her, she loved someone else and wanted him. He'd promised her, they'd fight for the future she wanted.

"I don't know," she said.

"Right, so we...wait what?" Lance asked, he'd been ready with the answer she'd want about her and Keith and she'd thrown him on his ass, again.

"I don't know," she said again and her chin jutted out stubborn and regal. "I...I wish you remembered."

Lance rubbed his temples with his hands. Trying to remember the hazy, intangible details that had been so vivid in his dream, the recurring dream that had him scared his first day awake on Arus he'd told her loved her. He looked at her now and he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into his body space. "Allura, did I tell you anything...uh..." he felt his cheeks burn and he wasn't sure if he wanted to say to yes or no.

"Yes," she whispered, one palm against his cheek, the other pushing hair behind his left ear. "You told me. You told me everything, Lance."

"Huh," he breathed out, leaning down and tightening his hold on her hips.

"I never expected to feel..." Allura started, but then they both heard footsteps and the sound of distant voices looming closer.

"Son of bitch," Lance swore and he looked around where they were. They were around a series of guest rooms that preceded Allura's room, that were always unused and empty. Arm firmly around Allura's waist he dashed them both across the hall and into the closest one.

They both turned, facing the door, peeking through a crack to see who past them by. Lance felt Allura stiffen, her hand reaching for his to grip when she saw Keith and Coran walking by.

"Yes, I agree, Captain. This part of the Castle, despite it leading towards Allura's bedroom is quite underguarded. With so many guest coming to stay with us for more than three days we need to definitely assign two more security sweeps of this area between all doors in and out, and the control room. I have reason to believe something might go wrong at the Ball... So, while it was pleasant to see you awake and planning things Captain, I must confess why is it you are up at this hour and appear to have already taken your run?"

"A bad dream, that is all Coran," Keith said. "I decided since I was awake, I'd get working on details for security for Ball. Getting things started early will make things run that much more smoothly."

"Yes, yes, yes... I agree," Coran said.

"You said you have reason to believe something might go wrong?"

"Yes, I was..."

Keith and Coran turned a corner.

Lance let out the breath he'd been holding and felt Allura do the same. He let the door fall open enough that the soft lighting that was always on in the castle halls illuminated Allura's face. She turned so she facing him, still in the circle of his arms and she sighed. "I'm probably to blame for Keith's bad dream."

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked.

"With Keith or in the cave?" she asked.

Lance felt like the answer to that question could change his entire future. "Cave," he said, it came out low and cracked.

"You told me you were in love with me, then you kissed me," Allura said, her hand landing on his chest where his heartbeat, her palm warm against the beat. "That's a simplification but it's true."

Lance pushed his left hand against the skin of her lower back, between the fabric of her shirt and jeans, he leaned down his forehead hitting hers. "Allura, what did you do?"

"I kissed you back. We kissed until we ran out of air. When we broke apart I... I came back to my senses and you kind of came back to yours. Prophecy over, right. The kiss, the startle. Done."

"Uh huh," Lance whispered, his eyes noting the shape and contour of her mouth, how her lower lip pouted out a bit naturally. He wanted to suck it into his mouth.

"Only... I, I asked you what I was wearing, I wanted to make sure you were seeing me and not the other Allura's you were mentioning from before."

"I always see you," Lance whispered.

Allura smiled, shy and bright and he felt his heart threaten to pound out of his chest. It felt like it should be making it hard for Allura's palm to stay against his skin. "That's what you said."

Lance grinned, apparently even high with a fever he was somewhat smooth.

"I told you, well I thought...I asked you to kiss me."

"Allura?" Lance whispered, inches away from kissing her now and hating himself for not remembering this. How could he forget his one great moment with his perfect girl.

"And it's all complicated now isn't it," she whispered touching his lips with the pads of her finger. "I want you to remember, I need you to remember."

"Remind me," he said brushing their lips together, her fingers caught between them. She leaned up into him as he leaned down into her, wrapping her up against him, hands pushing up under her shirt.

It matched his dream. Allura against him, pushing forward as he pulled her in, tongues sliding and angling in a perfect chase. It was better than the dream. He felt her weight, he tasted tea, toothpaste and her inside her mouth. He smelled her lavender-vanilla and deeper honey scent, he groaned, deepening the kiss with a breath through his nose. Allura moaned, she moved closer, he felt her lift on her toes and he moved his hands down to the back of her thighs and with a slight lift she was wrapped around his waist, pressing against him and him thrusting into her. He slammed her against the wall by the door threshold they were in, and broke apart for a breathe and to slow down his heart and his need.

She was looked down at him now, she captured his face in her hands and she sighed. "Why?"

"Why what baby?"

"Why..." Allura started to ask when a light clicked on. It was followed by a distinctly Norwegian clearing of a throat and Romelle coughing.

It was ice water but Lance found it hard to let go of Allura. Allura had her entire face buried against his neck, he could feel the heat on her cheeks. He moved, her legs fell back to the floor but she stayed hidden. While he made himself look into the room and he found Romelle and Sven standing by the door the guest room bathroom. Romelle was in a bathrobe, her hair up in a towel. Sven's hair was wet and he was wearing the pants and dress shirt he'd worn to the funeral.

"Uh, so, Romelle's room, huh?" Lance muttered.

Sven's look was one of dagger but Lance caught the worry around the edges of the grim line his friend mouth was making. Lance wasn't sure how this work out, Sven was closer to Keith than him. This was bad.

Allura shifted in his arms, he loosened his hold on her so she could break as free as she wished. She moved only enough to face her cousin and Sven, her chin forward, though her entire face was pink. "I really don't know what to say," she ended up stammering.

Lance felt her embarrassment and her fear, it was inside his head the emotions if not any specific words or sentences. He was apprehensive about this situation. Romelle he trusted to keep quiet, for Allura, until her dying breathe. Sven was a different issue, split loyalties could do that to a person and all Lance could think was, he's going to pick Keith. Just like the woman in your arms, right, he heard himself think. It's a matter of seconds now, Keith's name is going to come up, why not get it over with.

"Don't tell Keith," Lance said. "I mean, keep this quiet, this isn't really what it looked like...that's not true. It was what it looked like but it wasn't...it isn't. This is complicated," he ran a hand over his face.

"Complicated," Sven stated, the first words he'd spoken. "Complicated? That was pornographic. I navnet til Odin er dette en umulig. Jeg såret Lance eller jeg såret Keith, dette er galskap. Snarere være i Pit of Skulls." He snapped in Norwegian towards Romelle, then Lance and Allura but didn't seem to be talking to any of them.

Allura gasped, Romelle whitened when they heard Sven say Pit of Skulls.

"What the fuck, Sven, nothing is worth invoking the Pit of Skulls," Lance shouted back.

Sven sighed and shook his head. "I am sorry, Romelle. Princess. I... this is not something I was expecting to...this is disturbing."

"Disturbing?" Allura said. "What's so disturbing about it?"

"Allura," Romelle said. "Allura you and Lance, were with the whispering and the love confessions, and the touching then the kissing...and the..." Romelle trailed off her hands waving in the air as if that explained the rest of her sentence.

Lance knew what she meant so Romelle had gotten her point across without having to say it in words. It'd been an intense kiss, he wasn't forgetting it he knew that much. He never could, not even Sven ruining the moment by turning on the light wasn't going to mar the memory of this night.

Allura was hiding her face again, he looked down at her met her eyes and she smiled at him and it hit him she didn't regret it either, which made his heart fall to his stomach for a moment. He needed to be alone with her, they needed to talk about this because he'd never thought. Whenever he'd imagine his feelings leaving his mouth, Allura's reaction had always been loving pity.

This wasn't that it was far from it. It was the opposite of but there was something wrong, something bothering her and he had a feeling it had to do with Keith, him and the questions she'd been asking either... what were they about? Lust, love, sexual chemistry? His eyes widened as he looked at her? There was nothing wrong with their chemistry, not on his end anyway, didn't feel like there was anything wrong on her end. He'd felt something from her the whole time, inside his head. It was as if once that link opened it was always there, not always in use, not always with words but they sensed the other. She'd wanted more of him, needed it was how it'd felt. Or was that all him?

_No_.

He grinned at her, she took in a breathe. "Uh, how much?"

"Only the last part was in words," she laughed.

"Now they are forgetting we are here," Sven muttered to Romelle.

"It's kind of sweet."

"It is not," Sven said.

Romelle sighed. "Sven, let's go to your room."

"What?" Sven said. "It's going on to four in the morning soon, you cannot be seen out with me? It's bad enough we got engaged after the baby," he touched her stomach.

"Four? Shit, Allura, you have to get to your room. You never know when Nanny's going to wake you five or six, six-thirty if you're lucky tonight," he grabbed her and opened the door.

"Lance?"

"What?" Lance said, looking at Sven. "You should get your room too, as you pointed out?"

"You are in your boxers. I left some pants here the other night, uh, I had to hide in the wardrobe. We fell asleep...you should at least put them on," Sven walked to the wardrobe and pulled out a pair black slacks.

Lance rolled his eyes but pulled them on, he and Sven had always been close in size, so they fit well enough. "Thanks."

"Two more things," Sven said.

Lance sighed.

"I won't tell Keith. You should tell him, or the Princess," Sven glanced at Allura.

Lance nodded and waited for the lecture he thought was coming about betraying Keith's trust. It wasn't that he no guilt, he had plenty it was outweighed however by being in love with Allura. Also he didn't know which end was up right now, he'd only found out he'd spilled the beans to her. He was in awe that she felt anything back for him at all. He didn't know what the hell they were going to do, or what she wanted to do even about Keith.

"How drunk were you when you got that tattoo of Red Lion? Because one needle on a moon and your a crybaby but that piece of art had to have taken weeks?"

Lance felt a weight on his spine that had formed when he saw Sven grey eyes from across the room disappear. They were going to be okay, somehow, him and Sven. Sven was telling him by making fun of him.

"It is exquisite, the detailing is so fine, never seen a tattoo like it," Romelle said.

"What does that mean, mine is detailed," Sven said.

"What the Mom you have on your ass?"

"It's the World Tree and it is not on my ass," Sven snapped.

"Whatever, the roots are on your ass," Lance laughed, especially since he got Romelle to giggle. "I gotta get her back to her room, okay?"

Sven nodded.

"Sven," Allura said, stepping forward and looking Sven straight in the eye for the first time Lance realized. "Thank you. For letting this be between me, Lance and Keith."

Sven nodded.

"Come on," Lance said, taking her hand pulling her out of the room, Allura squeezed his grip and when he got her to her door, he felt lost on how to say goodbye when it was the last thing he wanted to do.

Allura looked up at him. "I wasn't going to tell you, unless you remembered. You still don't remember?"

"I do, kind of, been having this dream about telling you everything. You ask me to kiss you in it. It's what I was dreaming, before, in my room."

"Me too," Allura whispered.

His throat constricted, he ran his hand down her arm and then took her hand again, squeezed it. "I do, you know. I love you, Allura."

"I know," Allura said. "I...I know you know I'm confused," she said, her hand coming up and touching his mouth. "But, it doesn't mean I don't..."

"Shh," he whispered. "Let's work out the confusion, okay. We'll talk tomorrow, in the garden. You'll let me know what happened with Keith?"

Allura nodded.

He bent down and kissed her, soft, no tongue but not chastely he could never figure out how other guys managed that. He sighed when he pulled away. "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," she said back, slipping into her room.


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter Fifty-two

It was four in the afternoon, the sun was starting to set and Keith had yet to see Allura for the day. The excuses he kept getting from Nanny or any of the other maids he'd run into were beginning to wear thin. She's in town, she's buying fabric for her ball gown, she's discussing things with her seamstress. Nanny had in fact giving him a long lecture on how important it was that Allura have a new dress for the upcoming Ball, that they make sure to make her more than one dress and that she have options to consider. It was going to take a lot of planning and a lot of time and they were already running out of time.

He needed to know her decision about the Ball, he wanted to know if she would be making the strategically correct choice and not the one their hearts would prefer. He himself would much prefer to be her chaperone in more than name only in front of the world. He was proud to be the man of her choice, to be the one that the Crown Princess of Arus wished to have courting her. He smiled a bit as he made his way to the kitchen searching for someone else to ask where he may find her, because the Ball wasn't the only the reason he felt an urgency to talk to her.

He was worried about how they'd left things the night before, his dream about Tara had him more adamant about them starting to act on all the ideas they kept giving lip service to rather than only discussing them. He'd pushed her too far physically last night and his passion for her aside, he did need to know her better. He wanted to talk to her all night long about nothing if they felt like it - his dream had reminded him of he and Tara had done that for weeks before he even had gotten up the nerve to ask her out on a date.

Tara was the other reason, he was ready to talk about her with Allura. To tell Allura that he was in love with Tara and probably always will be but that it didn't effect his feelings for her, or how his feelings for her could grow, how he knew they would continue to grow in the direction they both wanted them to go in the more they were together, the more time they spent together.

They had to start putting in the time and effort on their relationship, which brought him to the one part of the conversation he was concerned about her reaction to. Allura put time and effort in with her relationship with Lance, Keith saw it, the world saw it it felt like and he needed her to understand they needed that too, maybe even more because they were more than her and Lance. He was jealous, yes, but the truth was she wasn't giving them what she was giving her friendship with Lance. Maybe it was less scary for her with Lance, safer? Keith wondered as he walked along, he hoped he could bring up Lance without making her defensive, or sounding too jealous, and not saying anything that sounded like an ultimatum.

He wanted them to talk with each other today, not have another discussion about talking that was another problem. But first he had to find her, he burst into the kitchen, startling a young woman in the room standing by the fire.

"You. Where is Princess Allura?"

"Uh, I don't know, I just got hired," the young girl stammered.

Keith stared. "What? Hired? By?"

"Nanny?" she pointed towards the small room that once had been a pantry, that Nanny used as an office. "She told me to wait for her out here while she filed away my application."

Keith sighed, Nanny was hiring new maids, without any vetting before a Ball. He put a hand at the base of his neck, but it did nothing to stem off more knots from forming there. "Where are you from?"

"Here," the maid said.

"I mean what Village."

"Oh. The main village," she said.

"Born and raised, in the main village?"

"Yes," she said.

"Uh..." Keith sighed, he looked the young woman up and down. Petite, tiny, she looked barely sixteen, and in the simple dress that Nanny made all the maids wear she blended into the woodwork of the kitchen like the rest of them. She only stood out because of her red hair, he supposed. "Do you like Doom," he asked lamely and realized he was really distracted by having not found Allura before sunset and this was the worse security check of his life.

"Do I like doom?" she asked and he saw her lips start to quirk.

"Forget it, if you see the Princess, please tell her Captain Kogane would like to see her."

"Yes, sir," the young woman said.

Keith turned around and left the kitchen. Allura maybe by this point would be in her bedroom by now, he hoped. He started down the hall back towards the wing Allura's room was located in, hoping he would find her inside her room this time. There was some saying about third time being the charm, maybe it would work for the sixth try instead since it was a multiple, he thought wryly.

~~.~~

Wearing nothing but a bra and knee length slip, Allura slipped out of the Kitchen pantry. "Thank you, thank you so much for not telling him where I was," she said.

The young maid turned and looked her up and down. "It's... well, my duty, Princess. Nanny hired me so... but why are you..."

"Nanny dragged me here, well to her office. I keep trying to leave but people... Could you get me Commander McClain, or Princess Romelle?"

"Why did Nanny drag you here?" the young woman asked.

Allura sighed, then pointed to the tattoo on her exposed right hip bone. "We were starting measurements for my new ball gowns, everything was going so well. She'd agreed with no fighting to let me pick royal blue fabrics, I was in heaven and then when my dress came off she screamed bloody murder about the tattoo. She's off looking for Coran I suppose."

"Oh," the young maid said, looking at the tattoo, then smiling. "It's sweet."

"Thank you," Allura smiled back. "I'm in a lot of trouble, but I really don't want to deal with it right now. So, uh, could you find me Lance or Romelle?"

"Sure, but uh, aren't you dating Captain Kogane?"

Allura sighed. "Lance or Romelle, please?"

The young maid nodded. "Yes Princess," she said, lifted the long skirts she was wearing and walked off.

Allura watched her leave, with a small sense of relief. She felt horrible for avoiding Keith all day, for asking every maid she saw to lie to him for her: _I'm not in my room, I'm not here, I'm still in town. Please just tell him I'm not here._ The main problem with avoiding Keith was she'd ended up avoiding everyone else but Nanny as well. She hadn't wanted to avoid Lance, but it'd ended up a side effect of her avoidance tactics with Keith. She wanted, no she needed to talk to Romelle as well, maybe even more than she wanted to talk to Lance. But she wanted to see him more than anything else.

She couldn't believe the sun was already starting to set, and she really couldn't believe Nanny had dragged her in her underwear down to the kitchen. She heard the door opening and she flew into the pantry again, hiding behind the door.

"She has tainted her body, Coran. Her pure beautiful skin has been marred and polluted, and with one of those beasts!"

"Nanny, you must calm down, I do not know what it is you are talking about."

Allura cringed, this was going to be one of the worst moments of her life and she wasn't sure she could avoid it as easily as she'd been avoiding Keith.

"Calm down, calm down. A Princess should be pristine, Coran. Pure and untainted, without any blemish. No piercings, and no, no, inkings of blue beasts on their hipbones! She's tainted her body beyond repair, there is no way to take this back, it's... She's gone! She's left... she's loose in the Castle in her underthings!"

"Nanny, you brought her here in her underthings?"

"I was beside myself with anger, I didn't know what I was doing. That tattoo is an abomination... Oh, no, where has she gone!"

"I'm here," Allura said, walking back into Nanny's office. "I found it difficult to sneak out of the kitchen, being in my under garments."

Coran turned to look at her and then turned right back around, took over the jacket he always wore and handed it over to her. Allura took it and pulled it on but didn't close it right away knowing he'd be clearing his throat soon enough to ask to see the tattoo. Seconds later the throat clearing came, "Allura, ahem, uh, the tattoo?" he turned back toward her.

She nodded, opened his jacket a bit, and poked out her right hip. Allura watched as Coran took in the tattoo, his eyes giving nothing away as to his feelings on it. Meanwhile Nanny was still making noises as if she'd caught Allura naked in bed with...well someone. It was a tattoo of blue lion, not the end of the world.

"Allura, what is the meaning of this."

"Well, I got it because I love flying and Blue is my lion and I feel connected to her and through that connection I feel more connected to Arus..."

"Allura!" Coran yelled. "That is not what I meant, I mean what were you thinking, marring your body in this way! This is not becoming a Princess, this is not acceptable behavior!"

"Allura!" Lance's voice called out from the kitchen. "Allura?"

Allura winced.

Coran's face grew stony and he pulled a communicator out of his pocket. "Captain Kogane to Nanny's office, please. Commander McClain, please join us in here," he yelled, poking his head out of Nanny's office.

Lance walked in and sent her an apologetic glance for not beating Nanny and Coran to the kitchen. She shrugged back and noticed how he was looking at her wearing Coran's jacket, to Nanny who was literally wringing her hands and still muttering. "She's tainted," and back to Coran's stony face. "So, uh, what exactly is going on here?"

"I'm going to wait for the Captain to arrive."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Is this a Voltron Force matter, because it doesn't look like one to me?"

"I believe it directly relates to keeping,_ you_, in line. That is a matter for Captain Kogane."

"Me? In line? Coran, are we going to fight again?" Lance asked.

"Yes, Lance, I believe we are. Because I am quite sure, you are 100% responsible for Allura having marred her body with that, that...tattoo of Blue Lion."

"He did not!"

"I wasn't there," Lance said.

"Coran what is it... Allura!" Keith said walking in all business but his face split into a smiling seeing Allura. Allura felt her guilt turn into a weight in her stomach at seeing it, she moved her eyes away from him and to the floor.

"I find that hard to believe, Commander. Allura do not defend him."

"I am not defending him, he had nothing to do with my decision to get a tattoo."

"What?" Keith said.

"Their mad, Allura has a tattoo. She's only had it months with no one noticing so I don't get the big deal," Lance muttered.

Allura had to stifle a giggle.

"You have a tattoo?" Keith said.

"You didn't know about this, that is good to know. However, I do believe that he had a hand in her getting it and I want him punished accordingly."

"Again, I wasn't there."

"He had nothing to do with my decision."

"Where is it?"

Allura sighed and started to open her coat.

"PRINCESS!" Nanny screamed.

Allura ignored her and showed Keith the tattoo, but her eyes met Lance's for the first time since last night and suddenly she was all butterflies and felt a rush of heat; especially knowing she was only in her underwear. She was grateful when Lance looked away, it looked like he forced himself to but it was a good thing because they couldn't do anything here, they couldn't talk here or touch here. Not in front of Keith.

She had to stop avoiding Keith and talk with him. But not before she spoke with Lance, and maybe not before she spoke with Romelle. She glanced over at Lance's profile one more time before taking a quick breath and looking Keith in the eyes. "See, it's really not a big deal," she said but she lost her confidence mid-sentence. Keith's black eyes looked furious and she didn't understand.

He stared at the tattoo, then he spun around grabbed Lance by the shoulder and clocked him in the jaw. Lance staggered back, his arms coming up looking ready to hit back but he managed to stop himself. "What the hell, Keith?"

"Why the fuck do you and her have matching tattoos?"

"What? Uh, no we don't."

"Yes. Yes, you do. Those two tattoos are by the same artist, they had to have been done at the same place, probably at the same time, Lance. The lions are in the same arch above the hip bone above the skin and drawn the exact same damn way... Matching fucking tattoos with my girlfriend so explain it to me right the fuck now."

"Dude, calm the fuck down," Lance said, hands up. "If we had matching tattos... I'd uh... I'd have blue and she'd have red... we have our own lions. Breathe. We just picked the similar styles thats all..."

"Lance..."

"At different times," Lance through out looking at Coran.

"Yes. At different times."

"So if I talked to the tattoo artist, he'd verify this?"

"Well, uh the artist isn't on Arus right now," Lance stammered.

Allura sighed, the artist wasn't even born yet for all she knew. She didn't know when the paintings the lions they'd chosen were from and maybe Keith did have a point. They'd picked the lions from the same painting, Lions that represented them in a painting that was about them as a couple. She'd never thought about it before but in some way they'd both wanted something from a painting that was about them; they'd hid behind their lions to do it.

"Lance stop side stepping and tell me who the artist is."

"He doesn't have to do any such thing, Keith. I went there on my own, the only he did was tell me about the guy and that he wouldn't be on Arus much longer. That his work was relativiely fast and painless. He showed me the pictures he had of the lions and I really liked the Blue one. I went. I did it. On my own... and I haven't tainted myself Nanny. I don't care for your definition of proper Coran. And really trying to blame Lance for decisions I make is really pathetic, Coran... And you, Keith, you are better than petty jealousy, please?" Allura asked, hoped, because she didn't want Keith to hate Lance, hate her. She still loved him, she did, she loved him.

She loved Keith.

She loved Lance, she looked over Keith shoulder at him and spoke mentally.

_I don't know what to do, I need to find Romelle. Wait for me at the bench?_

_I'll wait_. Lance answered, his voice final and rough in her head. She knew he meant for as long as it took even if she could hear the edge of impatience in his tone. She smiled and met Keith's eyes which were now serious with an edge of shame. "I need to take care of some things. Nanny pulled out of my meeting with my seamstress. I need to find her and finish. Then I need to talk to Romelle, about some things and then I would like some time for... I'll find you when I'm ready, Keith."

Keith sighed. "Fine."

"Wait," Coran said. "Allura, I need to know your answer in regards to the Ball. Will you doing as Keith and I suggested you do, and appearing open to a Royal Attachement to one of the four Princes? I need to know this for when I answer their RSVPS, to our invitation to the Ball, which I should do today as they all came in today. I am running out of time."

Allura sighed, she looked at Keith and while it was all in stasis on one level in her head when she looked right at him, if she shifted her eyes an inch over and an inch up and she met Lance's hazel eyes she knew clearly what she was going to do. But Coran was taking the third ball choice out of her hands at this moment and even if he wasn't could she do that to Keith? She sighed. "I will be pretending to be open to a Royal Marriage. But Coran, I want it crystal clear to you. I will be _pretending_."

"Very well, Princess. You will not regret this decision," Coran said.

"I need to lay down," Nanny muttered. "Shoo, shoo, all of you. Princess, someday you will be the death of me!"

Allura gave her the best apologetic smile she could muster as she turned to leave the room. "I'll walk you," Keith started to say but Allura turned. "Keith, I told you, I'll find you."

Keith sighed. "Right."

Allura took a deep breath. "Lance?"

"We're good."

She couldn't help it if her smile went a little to big, she hoped it didn't but it felt like it had and she felt Keith glower as it happened. She hated the idea of hurting him but she didn't know if there was a way around it. Walking out into the hallway, she saw the young maid she'd met in the kitchen walking towards her again and she grabbed her arm.

"Excuse me, hi. Could you find me Seer Mira?"

"Oh, uh, sure..."

"If I'm not in my quarters, ask her to check Princess Romelle's or my garden bench, please?" Allura asked, her heart beating as her hope rose. Maybe Mira could give her something, a clue, anything on what to do about the pain the situation was going to cause. "Thank you... I'm sorry what's your name?" Allura said realizing she'd asked a lot of this young maid and didn't know her name. Only the young maid was already turning a corner. Allura sighed, she'd have to catch her name some other time.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter Fifty-three

Allura felt relief for the first time all day when the doors to her room opened to reveal Romelle. Elinor her seamstress wrapped up her measuring tape and nodded. "I have all I need, Princess. I should be ready for the first fittings in three days," she said, as she gathered up the fabric, curtsied Romelle hello and goodbye and left the room.

"Blue?" Romelle questioned.

"It's my favorite color," she revealed to her cousin. "I out grew pink a long time ago."

"A lot of us do, some of us don't," she smiled. "This means I can wear pink to the Ball, then?"

"Of course."

Romelle smiled. "I'll have to contact my maid on Pollux, have her send me my favorite dress, so it'll arrive in time to have it taken out. I think I'm already starting to expand outward."

Allura moved forward and pressed a hand against her cousins stomach which still gave nothing away to the unaware showed a slight rounding. "How does it feel?"

"I feel the same still, still experiencing so morning sickness during the afternoons and evenings. Nanny's crackers help, however and she's gotten less disapproving the more she hears about our wedding plans. I do hope you will be my Maid of Honor, Allura."

"I'd love too, Romelle, you know that, we've discussed this. I'll be there, I'll do whatever it is you need."

"Who should Sven asked to be his Best Man?" Romelle asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, traditionally on Pollux, the Maid of Honor and the Best Man are a couple too. They follow the bride and groom down the aisle, they are in a place in their relationships where they do declare their love and hope that our love helps enforce and reaffirm theirs. As their newer love reminds us of where we started. Sven was certain you and Keith would be okay with it, but... Allura last night?"

Allura blushed, her heart sped up as she remembered her legs wrapping around Lance's waist, how she'd ground down against him as the wall slammed against her back. How she never wanted to stop licking into his mouth the way she'd been at that moment, it'd been delicious and it'd been a beginning and they'd been stopped.

Always stopped, she thought and she sighed because it was a good thing even if she didn't like it happening. Lance and her had to talk, they had so much to figure out and she had Keith to deal with, to figure out. Her feelings hadn't stopped, her heart had been so set and devoted to Keith for so long. Did she walk away because one time, when she'd pushed him so far it hadn't...

"Romelle, before Sven, before... I mean were their Princes' that your father introduced you to?" she asked her cousin, Romelle was older than her by a few years. Pollux due to her father's dealings with Zarkon for a few years had been safe for a few years of the Doom war. Romelle could, Allura hoped have more experience than herself.

"Yes. Three. I met the first one when I was fourteen, he was fifteen. We both thought it was the worst thing that could happen to us that day," Romelle laughed. "We became friends. Years later, when he was coming to the planet again, I looked forward to seeing him again. I let him kiss him and was so disappointed."

Allura lifted her hands and waved them to prompt Romelle to keep going, this was good. It was as if Romelle knew exactly what she needed to hear.

"The other two Princes had been, well they were arrogant, and too confident, I'd find them handsome and interesting. Spoiled, and awful men. As most of them are, I'm sure you've seen," Romelle explained.

Allura sighed. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Romas wasn't. He was still the way I remembered him at fifteen, when I was eighteen and he was nineteen. We were both so happy to see each other again. We snuck off the first change we got from our chaperone. He held my hand and we walked under the trees into the woods by the Castle. I stood against a tree trunk, he told me I was so beautiful and he kissed me. My first real kiss, I told myself, not like the icky ones those slimy princes had snuck in on me when I hadn't wanted one. And it was... it was a kiss. I'd expected something more. He felt it too, the nothing. We both looked at each other and tried again. Then again. Nothing. We've remained friends, he's so happy I found Sven. He'll be at the wedding with his young bride, a sweet young lady from his planet."

Allura took in the story. "So, you just felt nothing? At all?"

Romelle nodded. "It was a bit like when I kiss Bandor goodnight to be honest."

"Oh," Allura said, thinking about when she kissed Pidge and Hunk on the cheek. "Huh."

Romelle grabbed Allura by the arm and pulled her to the bed and sat them both down. "It looked like you thought that story would help and it turned out not too at all. What is it?"

"I always feel something when Keith kisses me," Allura said as she thought it, then realized she hadn't meant to say it out loud. "I mean. Oh, this is hard."

"This is about him and Lance?"

"Yes. No. It's about me and Keith, and it might be connected to Lance and me. I'm confused."

"Between them?"

Allura shook her head. "I want to say no, I'm not confused between them, but I am. Yet, I'm not... I think. I want to be sure, I can't make this choice lightly, Romelle. And there are things I'm confused about, they are the only men I've ever touched."

"I know. I haven't been with many myself. A few awful kisses from spoiled princes, Romas and then of course Sven."

"Romas is like Bandor to you though. The others. They weren't... allowed."

Romelle nodded.

"Keith was my Prince. The one of my heart. He came to Arus and he pulled everything together. He pulled them together, especially when Sven was injured, he kept them together and he helped me join them. He kept saving me and he helped save my people. I know it wasn't only him but he stood out with his eyes and his nobility. He reminded me of my father, Romelle. The way he carries himself, he's so graceful and he's prideful and quiet. We think alike, and we have the same ideals. I was hooked from day one, I was so sure. It was Keith, he'd be my future. I'd find a way to make sure of it and it was clear to me he felt something more back as well. He was afraid to say it. Lance verified it, he told me, he told Keith felt something he just wasn't sure if I was ready, if the time was right. Lance, Arusian Gods, Romelle, it's insane. Lance helped me to make the first move, to go to Coran, to ensure that I start to date Keith. Lance held my hand as I came up with my speech to Coran. He listened to me yammer about Keith for hours..." Allura looked down and started to twist at the fabric of her bedspread.

"What changed, Allura?"

"Nothing, everything," Allura laughed. "Not a thing changed with Keith, Romelle. That's the thing. Keith is still Keith to me. A hero, brave and noble. A Prince among men, a true Prince. If I had the authority to Crown him I would. He's Keith. He's dependable, solid and now I realize, a perfectionist, way to prideful with a jealous streak. He's aggravating and he's too rational sometimes. He over thinks and over thinks, unless he's fighting or in battle. That's the only time he instantly trusts his instincts. Which are pure and good. Being with him, it was amazing, Romelle. He was my first kiss, my first date, my dream man was my first kiss," Allura smiled.

"I always got so lightheaded and warm, around him. Everything was great, and I learned a lot. We got closer physically but never too close, he's too noble not to follow the rules he laid out with Coran. And you know the rules, must be a virgin. And I never felt a need to speed up anyway, I never felt a rush. Holding his hand, touching his cheek, kissing him before I knew what it was like to french kiss him could have satisfied me for years. But I learned about the french kissing because he slipped - because I turn him on. And I learned I turn him on because I learned what it's really like to need more from Lance."

"Lance? What did he do?"

"He did nothing wrong? If anything I crossed the line. He was hallucinating. He never, he never would have told me he was in love with me otherwise, Romelle. And I think, I think he wanted one kiss, and thought I'd said yes. I don't know but suddenly we were kissing in the cave and it was..." Allura blushed, she looked back at the bedspread. Her skin felt on fire, she felt shaky again and a shiver ran up her spine. "I wanted to crawl into him, Romelle. We wouldn't have stopped if we hadn't run out of air, then we both kind of snapped back to ourselves. But then I asked him to kiss me again and it was... I couldn't stop thinking about it and he forgot it," Allura rolled her eyes.

"He did?"

"He said last night he remembers it as a dream, he was so out of it Romelle, so many hallucinations. I didn't know what to do, I tried to pretend it never happened but..."

"But."

"I wanted that feeling with Keith. And after feeling it with Lance, knowing how Lance responded to my touch, because he hadn't hid anything. I realized how much Keith wants me physically and I pushed it. He blames myself for the freakout I had about it, but I pushed it Romelle. Last night before me and Lance were in your room... I felt Keith against me for the first time and it... Felt..." Allura couldn't stop the tears that fell from her eyes as she had to use the only word that qualified. "Wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Wrong," Allura said, wiping at her eyes. "I froze, Keith started apologizing and talking about how this is why we need rules and shouldn't be so close. And sitting on his bed had been a bad idea and being in his room was worse. I said we'd go back to having Lance chaperone, which made him feel better. He kept apologizing for pushing me further than I was ready. But I pushed him and I'm ready... or I least I am when it's Lance. When Keith kisses me it's nice, it's warm and buzzy. But it's not..."

"Passion," Romelle said.

"No."

"And Lance?"

Allura blushed but she couldn't stop a smile, despite how awful she felt about Keith. "Things are always easier with Lance," she said. "I thought it was because I wasn't in love with him. Like training, I was always trying to prove myself to Keith. So Lance ended up a better teacher, nothing to prove, nothing to lose. Maybe it started that way, I don't know. But yes, it's more fiery."

"Allura, is it only passion? Because there can be passion without love."

Allura frowned, images of Lara all over Lance coming to her and she shook her head. "I know and no, Lance and I have something more than mere passion, Romelle. It's more than that, there are things you can't understand," she said, thinking about the future, thinking about the tattoos.

"Nanny saw my tattoo today."

Romelle's eyes widened. "You have a tattoo? Allura, you're a Princess!"

Allura laughed, thinking that she'd walked into the tattoo parlor in the future with a Princess, one who had three tattoos; it was a part of the future she liked. "I know. It's nothing major, everyone has over reacted. Keith thought Lance and I purposely got matching tattoos. We didn't but I wonder at our choice now hindsight."

"What do you mean?"

Allura moved back and moved the waist line of the spandex leggings she'd put on when she returned to her room, to show Romelle her lion. Romelle's eyes widened. Allura recalled how much her cousin had loved the artistry of Lance's tattoo and felt safe in the knowledge Romelle would recognize the same hand in her own.

"Allura the same person drew this, it looks painted on your skin the way his did. It's beautiful work, the detail is so similar... it maybe different lions but otherwise it is the same tattoo, in the same location on your bodies."

"I know. But Lance said if we'd wanted matching tattoos we'd have gotten each other's lions, to get us off the hook with Keith. But Keith, he was angry and upset. I don't think he or Coran believed that Lance hadn't been with me when I got mine. It's the truth, and we can't introduce Keith the artist."

"Why?"

"He's not here."

"Will he be back?"

"He'll be on Arus someday but not soon enough," Allura hedge.

Romelle reached out and touched Allura's face. "What is your hindsight about the tattoos, Allura, if Lance had nothing to do with yours?"

Allura shook her head and took hold of her cousins hand. "I can't tell you. You wouldn't believe me anyway."

Romelle arched an eyebrow. "Allura, you can tell me anything, trust me with anything."

Allura smiled. "I know, it's just... We were drawn to the same art. It was a painting of the artists. The lions flying in the Arusian night, in front of the full view of the third moon. We picked that painting the two of us, without the other knowing until it was done."

"Lots of people love the same art, Allura. I love it myself."

Allura nodded, thinking about other painting, with the moon and the lions further in the background. The painting with her in Lance's arms, looking up at him, her face caught in a moment of laughter and in love. Lance's hands gripping her waist the way he does seconds before he pulls her in for a kiss, his own face caught in the same expression.

Them.

She'd told herself it was the lion and the moonlit night she'd been choosing to immortalize on herself, but was it? At the time she walked into that tattoo parlor with Laurie, she knew Lance could make her laugh like nobody else. He made her giddy with it, dizzy with it sometimes, he could tickle her

fancy like no one else and it never let her get too serious for too long as she had a habit of doing sometimes. She never would have survived that trip to the future without his mirth.

"Allura?"

"I need to go," Allura said. Impatience filled her, she had to see Lance, talk to him. It'd been far to long of a day and they'd said goodbye so long ago and she hadn't even wanted too. "Lance is waiting," she stood up.

Romelle grabbed Allura's arm. "Allura, are you in love with him?"

"Lance?" Allura asked.

Romelle nodded.

"God, yes," Allura said, smiling, pulling her arm free and running out of her room, leaving a worried Romelle behind.

~~.~~

"Uh, hello?" Lance said, surprised to see the young red-headed maid that had told him Allura needed his help in the kitchen - only to walk into the middle of the Big Tattoo Debacle - on his and Allura's bench.

She'd been sitting on it, her knees up to her chin when he approached but on his greeting she jumped to her feet, looked at him but didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm sorry, I just... uh. I had a break and this spot was pretty. Am I not allowed..."

"No, it's fine. It's just generally the maids stay out of Princess Allura's garden. This is her private area."

"Right, of course. I'm sorry, I won't... again... Commander..."

"Lance."

"Right," she said.

"You are?"

"Me, Uh, I'm Fleur," she stammered. "and again sorry, I should go. I'm sure Nanny has something for me to do. The Ball is a big deal, a lot of important people. Important planets are coming, the Princess will gain a lot of political clout and power if it goes well."

"I suppose. Seems to me Arus already has all the power it needs," Lance said.

"I was just repeating what I heard Advisor Coran say, sir."

"He wants to ensure Allura makes smart choices," Lance muttered, sitting down on the bench. "Tell me, who do you think is the smarter choice. A man like Captain Kogane, or me?"

"Sir?"

Lance laughed. "I mean, say I was in love Princess Allura and wanted to marry her, that I made my stand. Would I be a smart choice for her, for Arus?"

"You want my opinion" the young girl, who called herself Fleur asked.

"Why not?" Lance asked, looking at Allura's mother's White Arusian roses, thinking this was crazy. He wasn't the better choice, he wasn't a smart choice. He made insane chocies in battle, he thought there were no political choices to be made except to make one huge political stand. Work with Arus, for the betterment of the Galaxy or else. Peace was what was important, Arus held the location, Arus held Voltron. Allura's hand wasn't needed incentive for any planet to want broker a treaty or any kind of quid pro quo agreement with Allura. The clout was there, Arus was the golden planet of the Alliance, why else was the Garrison holding this Ball here, and now. It was a statement, war or no war, Arus was a power. How was he the only one who saw it, and if he was he only one who saw it maybe he was wrong. It was insane, Coran had been advising Alfor for years, he was the fifth or sixth in a generation of advisors. Keith studied political strategy in war, intergalactic politics, and he understood royal politics as well. Everyone said Keith had royal bearing about him - it'd been said before they ever landed foot on Arus.

"Well," he said, glancing at the girl again.

"I think the best choice for Arus, is the man the Princess wants, sir."

Lance laughed. "There is that," he said.

"I should go," she said again and this time ran off before he could stop her again. Lance watched her run for a moment, thinking there was something about her he couldn't really place his finger on. But then he heard footsteps from the other direction and he turned to find Allura standing there.

He stood up, closed the space between them and grabbed her hand. "Hey?"

"Hi," she whispered.

Lance didn't know where to start, or what to do. He wanted to kiss her, he wanted her in his arms, wrapped up in his body space with her smell and her curves pressed in against him. He wanted to ask her what the hell had happened in the cave, more specifically, he wanted to tell her again he loved her. He wanted to ask her if she loved him? He wanted to know what the hell this meant about Keith? Which brought guilt he didn't want to face, or deal with but knew would eat at him for a long time but he knew it would be worth if in the end he was with Allura.

"I needed to talk to with Romelle, or I would've been here sooner."

"Did it help?"

"Yes and no," Allura laughed, nervous and leaned her forehead against his chest.

Lance hand his hands down her back, then back up again. Then again, and again for something to do besides pull her in and kiss her senseless. "What happened with Keith last night?" he forced himself to ask.

"I felt him against me, his erection. I pushed him so it would happen, on purpose... You didn't remember what happened in the cave, I realized you wouldn't tell me you were love me because I was choosing Keith but I wasn't feeling - I wasn't feeling what I feel when I kiss you with Keith and I thought if I got our bodies close enough it would spark it to life. Only when I felt him against me it felt wrong, it felt wrong and I froze. And he's in the Castle now feeling like he crossed the line and it was all me."

Lance's heart stopped and started. This was awesome and horrible news, or it could be awesome news. He didn't want his hopes up, he didn't but his heart was soaring out into the air, flying high without his permission and starting to perform daredevil acts of happiness.

"What are you saying?" he asked, unable to hide the hope from his voice.

Allura looked up, her cheeks bright pink, her eyes bright. "I hate hurting him. He's Keith, he's my hero and I don't think he'll ever stop being my hero. But..."

Her words stung and yet hoped stayed there as beautiful as her face. "Yeah?"

"You, Lance. I'm in love you, I think I have been a long time now. You're the one I run too when I need to talk things out, you're my best friend, and you're really the only one who knows me. I don't know what to do about Keith?" she whispered. "All I do know is I love you."

Lance stared at her, he grabbed her face in his hands and started to dry tears that had fallen with his thumbs. He started to feel lightheaded, he felt her arms wrap around his neck and her lips grazed his right ear as she whispered, "Breathe."

Inhaling, he laughed, then his hands fell to her waist and he pulled her into him and caught her gaze. "I love you, Allura, I love you."

"I know," she smiled.

"Cocky, already?" he grinned.

"No, scared," she whispered.

"Don't be, we'll figure out the hard part" he said about Keith, then he erased the space between them and captured her lips with his.

_I love this part._ Lance heard in his head as Allura's legs wrapped around his waist again and as they had no wall nearby for him to steady them into. Lance decided to collapse them down to the grass, Allura on top of him.

_Remind me, Baby, in the cave you were on top and I did I have my had my hands up your shirt like this and my..._

Allura's laughter filled the air.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter Fifty-four

Lance had to keep, rocking his tailbone into the stone on the ground underneath him, bruising himself so he knew he wasn't dreaming. He and Allura were kissing, in the grass, by the their bench - it was the start of more than one of countless fantasies that had run through his head. Her voice was in his head, whispering, _I love you_, as if she knew his mind kept beginning to wonder if he'd imagined it. He knew he was telling her too, again and again, without pause. Just in case he couldn't tell her again, in case this all vanished away.

"Lance," Allura's voice was harsh against his neck, her body grinding against him, his erection pressed against the zipper of his pants, against her own leggings. He knew he was grinding against her perfectly, the way she was meeting each thrust told him that and he wanted to unbutton and unzip them both. Show her what he could do to her, out here in the grass with only his hand, and then show her how to use her own on on him. But he didn't want to push her.

"I've got you," he whispered back, because she sounded needy, but her felt in his head, a little scared and her uncertainty matched her need. He flipped them, making sure that she landed on only grass and hit no stone. She gazed up at him, breathless for a second and he grinned down at her. Then he plundered her mouth. He pushed his right hand up her shirt, keeping his left under her neck, as their tongues dueled. He'd undone her bra, the second they'd hit the ground, skimming the edges of her breasts, teasing them both for however many minutes they have been in intense perfection. This time though, he moved his fingers over her right nipple. Allura's gasp was beautiful, he thrust his tongue deeper into her mouth, thankful he great lungs and so she did she.

She wrapped her legs around his waist again, it felt like she was trying to climb into him and God knew he wanted to get into her. He pulled away from her mouth, for a second, kissed her chin and her jaw line. She was doing the same and he kept working his thumb and index fingers over her nipple until he slipped it between them and squeezed lightly as he met her gaze.

She tightened her thighs around him, arched up and grabbed his mouth with her own, tongue plunging in. _More, yes, please, love you._ Her voice in his head even sounded breathless, but he kissed her harder anyway on the love you. _Not stopping ever, Allura, ever..._

Was what he was sending her when a Norwegian ruined everything. "Ahem, Romelle thought that perhaps, I should come and check on the two of you. I see she was correct."

Lance removed his hands, Allura's legs left his body and he felt too light suddenly as he moved up to his feet, holding Allura's hand. "Uh, hi Sven."

"I believe I shall be your unofficial, chaperone from now on," Sven announced with a small smirk.

"Sven, that is not necessary," Allura said, brushing grass and dirt off the back of Lance's shirt. Lance grinned at his friend, started to remove grass and dirt from every part of Allura that was covered. Paying extreme attention to her ass.

"Really, Sven, we don't need a chaperone."

"No, really, is that Allura's bra over there?" Sven pointed towards the bench, which her bra was dangling off of.

Lance enjoyed Allura's deep rosy blush as she made her towards the bench, to grab it, his eyes on her ass until he heard a weird a sound and Sven said. "Do you hear that?"

Lance looked up, glancing around and saw something appearing over the bench, over Allura's head. Round, iron in color and the source of the buzzing, his eyes widened recognizing it as a short range bomb, as Allura looked up and screamed. He ran, grabbing her, flinging them both over the bench plunging them into the lake seconds before he felt it go off above them.

Under the water their eyes met, Allura's hand touching his face. Lance looked up at the water, watching the fire blaze above them. He swam them under it, away from it and towards the shore away from the blast. Climbing out he breathed when he was Sven, with some smoke debris and dirt on him but otherwise in one piece coming towards him.

"Are you okay?" all three of them said.

Soldiers came running from all directions, the Castle alarm could be heard blaring from where they were. Lance stared at where the bench he and Allura had been meeting on for months now and he gripped her hand tighter. She squeezed his back.

"Sir, what happened?" a soldier asked him. Lance looked at him, the guys name popping into his head and he let go of Allura's hand. "A bomb, a short ranged bomb just appeared out of nowhere. It shouldn't have been possible. Quarter off the area. Sven take yourself and Allura to see Gorma. I've got to go find Pidge, he needs to study the area, for anomalies, whatever just happened here made no sense."

"I'm staying here on the scene," Sven said. "I saw something fly out of that bomb along with explosives, some message was left. I want to be the one to find it," he met Lance's eyes.

Lance nodded. "Fine. You," he grabbed another soldier. "Take the Princess to see, Gorma. Has Captain Kogane, been notified?"

"Yes, sir. He should be on his way," the guard offered his arm to Allura.

"I don't want to leave?" Allura said. "My mother's garden, my flowers, our bench..." Allura said, stepping closer to him. Lance shook his head. "We were in an explosion, Allura. We both have to be, just go do this first, okay. While I take care of business here."

Allura nodded and looked over at what had been their perfect sanctuary. _I love you._

_I love you, too, don't forget it,_ Lance thought back, catching her hand for a second and winking.

Allura grinned and then let the guard escort her away. Lance caught sight of another guard picking up a rather big piece of the outer shell of the bomb. He hurried over and grabbed it, studying it. It was what he thought. The bomb was a Garrison Class Fighter short range missile, what the fuck was going on here?

They couldn't just appear in the air above a persons head from some bright white light. "Fuck me," Lance muttered.

"Fuck you what?" Keith said, standing behind him. "Is that a short range missile from a Garrison Class Fighter?"

"Uh, yeah, it's what did this. It kind of... get Pidge to scan the area, will you. It appeared out of nowhere, I got to, I've got to go check into something..." Lance handed Keith the shell fragment.

"Lance, you should go to Gorma. You just got out of the infirmary."

"Yeah, uh, I'll do that soon,"

"What are you checking?"

"If it's important, I'll tell you. It might be nothing," Lance lied because he had a bad feeling it wasn't nothing at all. He walked into the castle made sure none of the milling guards or maids saw him and started to down the hallway that would lead down to the tombs.

Only footsteps were behind him, he turned and the red headed maid called Fleur was running towards him. She stopped short. "You're wet," she said.

"I had to jump in the lake."

"Oh. Princess Allura, is she..."

"She's wet but probably fine."

"Good, good," the girl said, starting to walk backwards and Lance watched her, his instincts kicking in and he grabbed her hands. "Who the hell are you?"

"I told you already, let go of me," she snapped.

"Why are you checking in on me and Allura?"

"I ne-wanted to make sure you two were okay, I knew you were meeting by the bench. I heard there was an explosion in the garden. I wanted too..." she trailed off tears falling out of her eyes.

Lance let go of her hand. "It's okay, sorry. I just think someone tried to kill Allura, I'm being paranoid."

"Right, the Princess is she a target often?"

"No. But the Ball..." Lance ran a hand through his hair. "I still have to go see a guy about something, just uh, don't tell anyone you saw me go down here, okay?"

"Sure, no problem, er Lance."

"Thanks... Fleur, right?

"Right, yep, Fleur," she said as she turned around.

Lance watched her walk away his gut telling him to keep an eye on her. She was new, her reaction had been far too emotional, but she didn't strike him as devious. He didn't know, hell maybe he'd ask Alfor. He turned back around and made his way down to the King's tomb and found the spirit of Alfor already manifest and realized the King was waiting for him.

_Hello, my son._

Lance wasn't in the mood for salutations, or even to feel weird that Alfor would call him his son. "Someone tried to kill, Allura."

_The answer isn't that simple and as I see by your clothing you rescued her with time to spare._

"Seconds," Lance snapped. "It appeared out of nowhere, where was a fucking prophecy on that!"

_Things will become clear, Lance._

Lance rolled his eyes, took a breath and reminded himself why he was talking to Alfor in the first place. It wasn't for cryptic sentences it was for one answer. "There was a bright white light around it, it was similar to the light Allura and I walked in and out of, is this..."

_The bomb was sent from the present. It was not sent from another time._

Lance eyed Alfor, Alfor held his gaze. Lance nodded. "All I wanted to know, thanks."

_You and her should tread carefully, Lance._

Lance stopped, taking in Alfor's last words but he turn around to let the spirit know he heard him because Lance knew, he didn't know how but he did, that Alfor was no longer present. He also knew what Alfor meant. What he wasn't sure about was how Allura would react.

~~.~~

Allura walked into the control room, the main view screen showed her garden, her favorite place blown to bits and she felt sick to her stomach. She searched the room for Lance and found him bent over a table that had been brought out looking at something with Keith and Sven. All three of held tension in their jaws, she started over to the table but Keith's hand rose out, halting her.

"No," he said. He turned toward her and walkeding over to her. He took her hands, glanced at the screen. "I'm so sorry, Allura. I know how much that section of the garden means to you."

He meant because of her mother's flowers, the work her mother had done and she had continued. Allura couldn't help but to think about how it had become her and Lance's spot, their place. Where everything was always easy and full of so much laughter. Ruined in seconds. All of her mothers Arusian roses, and other rare flowers, the Lyran roses she'd had planted there after Lance had risked his life to bring them back to Arus. She blinked back tears and buried her face into Keith's chest. "I don't understand. What have you guys found?"

"Let her see it," Lance's voice said.

"I want to get more evidence, first. About it, from it," Keith said. "We don't know anything right now."

"She's not going to walk away with no information," Lance muttered.

"He's right," Allura said, meeting Keith's gaze. "What have you found. I don't even understand where that bomb came from. There was no ship."

"My analysis says it was some form of sorcery/technological blend however, the magical elements do not match what we know about Haggar," Pidge was saying from the computer console as he continued to push buttons. "And the reads-out I'm getting from remaining energy on the bombs fragments is unlike anything I've ever seen..." his tongue poked out in concentration.

_The future? Was it from the future?_ She asked Lance looking past Keith at the table. Lance looked up and shook his head subtly. _I asked your father. He said the bomb was sent from the present and there was no magic involved in what they did, Allura. It was all science. I trust Pidge._

Allura felt relatively better but not completely, looking at Lance she noticed he had not changed, his hair was still damp and that meant that he had not gone to see Gorma. "You haven't seen the doctor, yet. I know Sven did, he came in as I was leaving. You need to go see him, you should have changed out of those clothes."

"There was too much to do," Lance said moving a piece of the evidence he and Sven were still scowling at somewhere. It made Sven's eyes widen. "Come over. Keith, let her."

Keith sighed and glanced at Allura. "I can't stop you, right?"

Allura shook her head.

"I did try to get him to go, but he made the point I wouldn't either if an attempt on your life had been made, and I couldn't argue with him."

Allura rolled her eyes and walked up to the table with Keith, positioning herself between him and Lance. She looked down and frowned. She didn't know what it was they had put back together like it was a jigsaw puzzle but on it scrawled in red block letters were the words: **It Will Be Ended Before It Begins. A.**

"Arielists," Keith said. "I'm talking to the ones we have in the prisons."

"Those idiots?" Hunk said from where he was helping Pidge input numbers and trying to figure out the read-outs at the main computer. "They couldn't possibly be connected to this."

"Maybe they know someone who could be. Maybe they aren't the only ones like we assumed after their questioning. I'm talking to them again. Now," Keith stood and strode out of the control room.

Lance and Allura exchanged a glance, the question of the future rising in their minds again. They didn't need to think it, it was on their faces. Sven looked between them. "What is it?" he said. "You two are talking without words again."

"No, no we're not," Lance said.

"You need to go see, Gorma."

Lance sighed. "Fine, walk with me?" he asked.

Allura nodded.

Sven grabbed Lance by his arm and they looked each other in the eyes. Allura felt as if the room went darker suddenly, there was a tension there between the two friends. The secret they had asked Sven to keep. It was one no one should ask a loyal man like Sven to keep from another. Her guilt rose and she thought about how Keith had walked right to her, grabbed her hands and apologized as if they hadn't fought earlier in the day. As if they'd had no issues the night before and he hadn't been waiting all day to speak with her. She bit her lip as she nervously waited for whatever was going to happen with Lance and Sven to occur. Pidge had stopped typing, she glanced and saw he and Hunk were watching and she wondered how much they were seeing and how much they'd gathered about things between her, Keith and Lance.

Sven dropped Lance's arm suddenly and touched his head. "Aye, that was weird. Don't do that again, okay, I believe you."

Allura grinned and met Lance's eyes.

Lance winked. "I figured I knew him well enough," he said and took her hand before they walked out of the room. He squeezed it after they passed a few guards in the hallways. Keith had beefed up security and she had a feeling it was going to get worse. Especially since they couldn't cancel the Ball.

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him that you and I have to talk, we didn't really get to the talking yet... obviously. Then I told him that there is no way with your life in danger I'm going to do anything stupid."

"Do you really think this is about me?" she asked, looking at him, her heart in her throat out of fear not for herself but for him.

"Your father said the bomb came from now."

"The bomb did, but Pidge doesn't understand the technology, Lance. And before it begins... the Arielist in the future. They wanted to kill all McClains."

"No, it's not..." Lance shook his head.

Allura felt a wave of doubt, insecurity, a certainty he was no King and not connected to the planet in any real way except his love for it and its Princess. "You're going to have to stop denying it someday, Lance."

Lance shrugged, then sneezed, and Allura gripped his hand and started to pick up the pace. "This is what I'm afraid of you're going to catch pneumonia, or worse."

"It was just a sneeze, Allura."

"You're not 100% yet, you haven't even started physical therapy."

"Baby, I'm okay, the leg doesn't even hurt. I took all antibiotics on time, I swear."

"Well, nevertheless I want someone to look at you and then I'm getting you out of those clothes," Allura said.

Lance yanked her, pulling her into his arms and pushed them into a corner in the hallway they were in, right before it turned into the Medical Wing. "Get me out my clothes, huh?"

Allura blushed but she held his intense hazel gaze. "Yes," she whispered.

He kissed her and she moved with him, loving how he wrapped himself around her and thinking she'd never tired of being surrounded by his smoky scent. He broke away too soon, however and sighed.

"Damn it," he moaned, his fingers flexing on her hips. "I don't want to do this, but uh... Look, we have to wait until after the Ball for you to break up with Keith."

Allura blinked feeling dizzy and more than lightheaded, then totally perplexed. "What?"

"We have to wait until after the Ball for you to break up with Keith."

Allura pushed off his chest to get out of his arms and she crossed her arms over her breasts. "What? No. That... I can't string him along like that?"

"Don't. I'm not saying to do that but... Baby, there is a danger, I need him. We need him at his best. I don't want him unfocused. You dump him, for me it's... Keith is noble and he's amazing, but he's human. I'm not risking your life."

"Or yours," Allura added as the rational part of her catching up with Lance and she started to cry. "You're right, but... It's so wrong."

"It is," he said. "I know, Baby. I don't want you to hurt him more, I don't. And I don't want to wait, I don't."

Allura moved back into Lance's space, putting her forehead right against his heart, he wrapped his arms around her. "I'll do it. But, I don't like it."


	55. Chapter 55

f_ive days later, two days before the Ball..._

Keith moved the candles on the right side of the table so they were precisely parallel to the candles on the left side of the table. Satisfied that everything on the table was now in its place, he pulled the lighter out of his pocket and lit the Arusian Lily scented candles. The scent was more soothing than Earth's lavender, fresher and less intense to the nose, he breathed it in and nodded. He looked around the room checking to make sure if there was anything else he should be double checking on and decided that everything looked fine. He and Allura were going to have dinner with Sven and Romelle tonight, only the four of them; away from the crowded dinning area the main room had become with Garrison soldiers that were sharing shifts now with the Arusian soldiers. He'd tripled security since the attempt on Allura's life; Pidge still hadn't figured out the magical-technical combination that had transfered a bomb taken off a Garrison aircraft and Graham when he heard about it had been livid. He'd started an investigated about missing firearms and ships but it'd led nowhere so far.

Keith shook his head, he wasn't going to think about how there were no leads, how the two morons who were about to start their prison term had looked clueless during his questioning. Hunk had been right, they were to stupid and they had no connections. Keith inhaled deeply, purposely clearing his mind. Tonight he wanted to focus on Allura, him and Allura. They'd barely talked in the last five days, he'd been investigating, working on security schedules for the Castle, for Allura, for the visiting planets and all their delegates. Allura herself had been no less busy, meeting with Coran to go over all the politics that would be buzzing through the room as much as music, merriment and Arusian mead. Getting fitted for more than one dress because apparently she needed more than one to choose from.

To top everything else off, Doom had attacked twice in the interim. Keith was sure however that with the Garrison Fleet arriving in the middle of the last battle and adding severe damage to Lotor's flagship that they would be staying away until after the Ball. He could only hope, anyway, because Lance had flown against medical wishes - though Keith had to admit Lance seemed fine. He was working out at his peak performances, he's physical therapist wasn't reporting any issues. Gorma was being over protective or something, Keith didn't know, he suspected it was because Allura kept freaking out about it.

Keith sighed. Allura and he not only had barely seen each other, it seemed to him that when he did see her they weren't connecting at all. She wouldn't look him directly in the eye and Allura never backed down from direct contact. She dodged any attempt from him to kiss her on her mouth. She'd allow him to hold her hands, kiss her hand, hug her, but anything past that she'd flinch, move and once, he can't prove it, but he's positive she faked slipping off the couch in the rec room to avoid kissing him.

He knew the last time they'd been together and alone he'd crossed the line. Full-blast, megathrusters are go. He'd apologized so many times she'd screamed at him to stop, told him he was forgiven. Explained to him she was as to blame as he was. It takes two people to cross the line in that way. Keith worried that the experienced had scared her more than she was willing to admit and it came again at a time when they couldn't follow up and talk to each other. He still hadn't had the chance to tell her anything about Tara, or to try to find out more about how much their last encounter had upset her. She wasn't experienced and, he wasn't exactly an expert but he did know more and understand more about love and relationships than her. He felt horrible still, he wanted to make sure she was okay. He wanted to be able to look her in the eye and make her smile. He missed being able to talk to her and know they were in agreement, friends first and maybe to be so much more.

He loved her, he could fall in love with her, he knew that. Allura was intelligent, intuitive, she had a grace about her that was about wisdom and inner strength and beauty. She was regal and would be with or without a crown on her head. He'd always felt drawn to her smile, her innocence. She blushed easily, she hoped with ease that he wished he had himself. He'd fought the idea of falling in love with her for too long, he realized that now. He'd even fought it a little after they started dating by being to protective, but not taking off the blinders he had to her being young and a Princess. He'd gotten passed it all, he wanted to move forward. It was getting annoying that situations and Allura herself weren't working with him.

His hope was that tonight, with them dining with only Romelle and Sven. Her seeing them together, happy and in love would help her relax. They'd have amazing conversations with their friends. It'd be refreshing to not have Lance in the room. It seemed he distracted Allura more than not. Her worrying that he was taking care of himself. Lance was working hard himself, working double shifts to make sure security had no holes. It was a good thing, Lance was the best guy he had. Allura's safety was something they both wanted and agreed on. But if he was the chaperone, more often than not lately, Allura pulled him into the conversations, it was as if she didn't want to be alone with him. Keith's hope was that Sven and Romelle as their double date would relax Allura, and then afterwards Keith had decided they could be alone for a small period of time. It'd be their first chance in weeks to talk each other alone.

The new red headed maid came into the room pushing the cart with all the food he'd requested. He'd asked Nanny to have all of Allura's favorite comfort foods made, hoping it'd be another way help her relax and him relax as well. The food was good. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," she said. "I'll leave it here by the table. No ones arrived yet?"

"They should arrive soon, I came early to make sure everything was in place."

The young girl flashed him a grin that seemed familiar to him and the way she smiled at him seemed almost intimate for a second. Every now and again she still gave him a pause like she had the day he met her. He'd interviewed her after the explosion in the garden but she'd been so upset that the Princess nearly died he couldn't in his heart even think of her as a suspect.

"So, do you need anything else, Captain?"

"No, thank you," he said.

She nodded and walked back out the way she came in, and as she closed the door behind her, the door on the opposite side of the small room where Keith had set up the intimate dinner for four opened and Sven with Romelle on his arm appeared. Keith frowned, "Where is Allura?"

Romelle sighed. "She said she'd be here on time, she promised me," she explained. She started to pull away from Sven. "I know where she is, I'll go get her."

"No," Keith said. "I'll get her where is she."

"Keith, I really think it's best I go," Romelle said.

Keith shook his head. "No, she's been avoiding me which is bad enough but when we barely have time to see each other as it is, it's..." Keith trailed off and felt the urge to find Allura himself rise. "Where is she?" he asked again in his most commanding tone.

Romelle sighed and looked at Sven. Sven shook his head. "I wouldn't argue with him when he sounds like that, it gets one nowhere and the food will get cold and it smells good. I am starving. Isn't the baby hungry?"

Romelle rolled her eyes as Sven touched her stomach. "Fine. She's in the garden. Lance came in with a shipment of Arusian White Rose bushes and Allura couldn't wait to start planting them. They both swore they'd stop in time for her be here on time."

Lance, Keith thought, of course. If Allura wasn't with Coran, Nanny or a the seamstress she seemed to be with Lance. Keith walked out of the door, with a nod of thank you to Romelle.

~~.~~

Allura turned the corner, hurrying as well as she could in the heels she was wearing with the new peach cocktail dress she'd bought on her last trip into town. It seemed she needed to go into everyday for more materials for her gowns for the Ball which meant five body guards, two of them being Lance and Keith. It was annoying, even Lance was hovering a bit too much and she'd snapped at him that morning after breakfast when he'd caught sneaking off on the Arusian Guard assigned to her for the morning shift. She'd lost it, he yelled back and then they hadn't talked until she saw him in the stables with a whole shipment of Arusian White Roses, when she was there to choose the horses a few of the younger guests soon to arrive would be allowed to ride.

They'd forgiven each other in a smile, then gotten to planting them; trying to make it as close to her mother's garden as possible. They'd gotten lost in the work, talking, laughter and of course some kissing. Lance pressing her against the Castle's walls. She was running late and they'd both sworn to Romelle when she came to get her two hours before the dinner that she wouldn't be late, that she would be there on time. Allura knew she'd been dodging Keith too much, he was getting worried and he had this sad look in his eyes every time her gaze met his that she was avoiding it as much as possible.

It was killing her not telling him the truth about her and Lance. Not explaining to him how her feelings had changed. Keith deserved better than this, the problem was Lance was right. They had some unknown attacker, who had already nearly killed her, Lance and Sven. Everyone was focusing on only her but she couldn't shake the feeling it was connected to Lance as well. It'd happened at their spot, their bench, where they were at that hour almost every night without fail.

Many people knew that. It was planned. It made her blood run cold to think someone was targeting them, and at the moment they became a true couple. Her intuition was screaming about the future at her, she knew Lance felt it too but neither of them had proof. There were no prophecies about this that she'd run into. There was nothing they'd seen in the future at the Castle to tell them about this and neither of them had read anything in their diaries about anything relating to an explosion in their garden. It meant they had to stay quiet, they had to keep their mouths shut or they would both sound insane and they had to keep their love a secret so Keith would be at this best and not emotionally compromised.

_Because I've strung him along, even if I didn't mean too_, Allura thought turning a corner slamming into a hard chest. She put her hands up to stop herself from teetering forward into the person and found herself with her arms around Keith's neck.

Keith's dark eyes went from stormy to sparkling. He smiled, his hand falling onto her waist as he pushed her away to their established save distance. "You remembered me, after all," he said, his voice only holding a slight edge.

"I could never forget you," she said, feeling awful.

"Romelle thought you and Lance might still be planting," Keith said.

Allura blushed, she could feel the heat on her cheeks and she hoped the color didn't match the temperature as she remembered some of her and Lance's planting. "He's still planting I think, there were only a few more left. But I had to leave, we have a date with Sven and Romelle," she said, wishing she could have found it in her to have said, we have a date. But she couldn't. She hated lying to him like this, it was going to hurt so much more later.

"We do, but now that I've found you we can be a little slow going back," Keith said. He let go of her waist and took her hands, and looked her up and down. Allura felt herself start to smile as Keith took in her new dress, she did want to know what he thought of it - even if he hadn't been the man she'd been thinking about when she picked it out. More guilt hit her but she pushed it away.

"Let me turn, you need to see the back," she added and he let go of her hands. She turned around, showing off the fact the dress was nearly backless which was why she'd worn her hair up. "It's my favorite part," she said turning back to face him.

Keith was frowning at her which wasn't what Allura had been expecting at all. "Don't you think that's a little too revealing, Allura?" he said, almost sounding like Coran.

"Of course not, it reveals nothing it shouldn't."

"It nearly does, it scoops right down to your..."

"Ass. I know. But it shows nothing of my ass, it stops just before it reveals anything of it at all, it's part of the appeal."

"It's part of the tease and I don't think it's all that appropriate for a Princess."

Allura huffed. "Are you seriously giving me a propriety lesson right now?"

Keith ran a hand through his long hair and looked at the wall for a moment. "Allura, the delegates from the Alliance Planets start arriving tomorrow. You will be dressing up every night. What do the other new dresses you have brought look like? Do any of them..."

"What does it matter?"

"Allura, you represent Arus, I know you have to understand... Coran and Nanny have been teaching you this your entire life."

Allura's felt her spine go rigid. "I know who I am, Keith. Crown Princess of Arus. I know what is expected of me, trust me! I know I am to show decorum in official situations and be to be a lady. I assure you that in this dress or any other dress I have chosen I can represent _my planet_ in them with perfect propriety."

"Allura..." Keith said.

"Let's get to our dinner date, Romelle's eating for two we shouldn't keep her waiting," Allura snapped and walked passed him now fully pissed off at him. Starting to tell her how to dress, she knew how to dress for when the delegates were around and how to dress for a date. Maybe she shouldn't have dressed for a date tonight because she shouldn't be leading Keith on but she had to make it look good. Plus her plans were to track down Lance before she went back to her own room and damn it. Now she felt ashamed, guilty and angry at the same time.

Learning how to cope with multiple emotions at once seemed a lesson she was constantly have to work through. The ones she wanted to focus on were all about Lance but she wasn't given time, she wasn't even giving the freedom for it. She opened the door to the room Keith had set up their double date in with a clatter causing Romelle and Sven to look at her wide eyes and break apart from what looked like an impromptu dance in the middle of the room.

They were so in love, they were so happy. There was chaos moving around them in all directions with the Ball and the investigation into where the bomb had come from and Sven and Romelle had a perfect oasis of love. They didn't have to hide, they didn't have to pretend, and soon they'd been married and their child. Allura added envy to her current list of multiple emotions.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to make such a loud entrance."

"Keith is look -" Romelle started to say.

"I know, he found me and then decided I don't know how to dress like a proper Princess."

Romelle raised an eyebrow.

Allura shrugged and made her way the table, as Keith walked into the room behind her. "Allura?" he said.

"Yes, Captain Kogane?" Allura snapped still angry with him for not knowing better, for not trusting in her at all. He was supposed to be her best friend, if nothing else Keith was that much, her friend, her hero. Why was he always presuming to school her?

"I was making what I thought was...uh...well..." Keith stammered from behind her. She walked around the table and slipped into a chair facing him and then she looked at Sven. "Sven, do you think I'd wear this dress or something like to dinner with the Alliance delegates coming for the Ball?"

Sven held up his hands. "I am staying out of this, Princess."

"Of course you wouldn't wear that kind of dress to the Delegation Dinners before the Ball, what in the world!" Romelle said, before her brain caught up to why Allura had asked the question and directed to Sven. Allura watched as her cousin realized and Romelle's eyes pinned Keith. "Seriously, Keith? She's not a child," Romelle shook her head and walked over to the table and sat down next to Allura.

"I guess, I am your date tonight Keith?" Sven said.

Allura felt a stab of guilt but she couldn't help how she felt. She couldn't help how she felt when he said things that made her feel like he didn't trust her. She wanted Keith to trust her, he said he was going to work on seeing her as an adult. Lecturing her in the hallway about her dress, that wasn't seeing her as an adult. Worse, as she thought about it she couldn't help how she felt about him, that how she loved him turned out to be warm, and more than she could quantify and she still saw him as a Hero. But he wasn't the man she loved. Day by day since it'd become clear to her, being around Keith it became clearer and clearer to her. She could only hope when she and Lance finally told him he would find a way to forgive them. Allura didn't want to lose him, even if he still had issues seeing that she was a grown up.

He slid into the seat across from her, she forced herself to meet his eyes. "What smells so good?" she asked.

He gave her a tentative smile which made her feel slightly better, at the least. "I had Nanny make all your favorites," he said.

Allura forced a smile, it really was no wonder she'd formed such a crush on him. He was so thoughtful, caring, he noticed little details and took care of little things. "That's sweet, thank you," she said and started to take the dishes off of the cart with Keith's help. She took a deep breath as she sat down the dish holding her favorite pasta stuffed with three cheeses, all she needed to do was get through this double date. Romelle would help make it go more swiftly, stay with Keith for a little bit afterwards and not lead him on anymore than she already had. Then she could find Lance for at least fifteen minutes of peace before she had to head to her room and sleep before starting another stressful day. A more stressful day, guests would be starting to arrive - they'd put them all off long enough because of the investigation. She exhaled the breath and told herself not to think about the Ball or the explosion anymore for the night.


	56. Chapter 56

Fifty-six

Allura stood by a window, arms crossed over her breasts, hand unconsciously rubbing up and down her bare arm trying to soothe her own nerves. Romelle and Sven were gone. Keith was shutting the door behind them and they were going to be alone. Not for long, Keith had told her only for thirty minutes. A few weeks ago she would have thought it too short of a time, now she found it far too long. She was looking out the window but she was to far inside her own head to see the starry, moon bright Arus night. The dinner had been nice, conversation had flowed between the four of them easily but near the end of the dinner, as they munched on dessert the conversation had turned toward Romelle and Sven's wedding.

Allura wanted to enjoy the conversation, chat aminately with Romelle about the flowers, and the dress. What her plans were, ask her more question about Polluxian traditions. Keith had asked Sven about who he was asking to be his best men and asked if it was going to be Bandor, when he heard Allura had been asked to be Romelle's Maid of Honor. Allura had opened her mouth and asked what she was expected to do for Romelle, if Romelle still wanted her. Forgetting until Keith's question that the Maid of Honor and Best Men were to be a couple earlier in the relationship but close enough to marriage to want to honor the marrying couple with their own love.

How stupid she'd been and Sven had to dodge the question, and Romelle had muttered something about Polluxian tradition making the question of the Maid of Honor and the Best Men difficult. Keith looked perplexed and suspicious and Allura was sure he knew they were all hiding something. Allura closed her eyes when she heard Keith's footsteps behind her, looming closer.

"Are you cold?" he asked, already shrugging out of the dinner jacket he'd been wearing.

Allura turned and shook her head. "No," she said, turning down the gesture. "I'm anxious. About the Ball. So much to remember about every planet. So much more Coran wants me to remember about the Big Four. All the security and so much still unknown about what happened before."

Keith nodded, his face serious and he took both of her hands between his in his gentlemanly way. "Allura, I promise you, I won't let anything happen to you."

Allura smiled and she knew he meant it, he'd always mean it. As stupid of a promise it was and she thought about his past. Something they still hadn't talked about. "Keith, promise me, if something happens to me..."

"Allura don't..."

"Keith listen. Just promise me if something ever does happen to me because you can't control life - not even you - promise not to punish yourself or blame yourself for too long."

Keith snorted and even though his skin was darker than hers she caught sight of coloring on his cheeks. "I'll try," he said.

"I'll live with that," Allura said with a smile.

Keith's expression changed and she recognized it. It used to make her smile and brace herself for a wave of wonderful heat both from Keith's higher than normal body temperature and the kissing. Now though it made her turn her head and Keith's lips landed on her cheek. He pulled back and Allura tried to pull free of his hands, but he kept ahold of her and moved his body when she moved hers. She was blocked by the window behind her, he was better at reading her body language than she his. He knew how she was going to try move to get free. She was stuck.

"Allura, look at me."

Giving up she forced herself to meet Keith's eyes and hated that he didn't look angry at her. He should be, she thought, he should be so angry at her. "This is why I wanted to talk to you alone. Why I made sure we'd have some time before delegates start arriving tomorrow. We need to reconnect and everything is so crazy here."

"We're connected," Allura said.

"Allura, we haven't talked about what happened in my room."

Allura sighed. "Do we really have too?"

"Allura, you won't let me kiss you. I think we should talk about it."

Allura bit her lip and she stared at him. "I... It's not what you think," she whispered.

"I think you got scared and now your freaked out every time I touch you, except for handholding," he held up their hands.

Allura shook her head but she didn't see any real way to argue with him. She didn't know what to do here. What she wanted was to tell him the truth, to tell him why she'd pushed all his buttons that night in his room. How'd she'd been searching out a spark that wasn't even there. She'd averted her eyes to their hands to avoid looking him the eye again but she looked back there now, wondering something.

"Keith are you in love with me?" she asked. The minute it flew out of her mouth she wished she hadn't asked it. What he said of course he was and he wouldn't be forever. _Oh Gods._

Keith held eye contact with her, Allura started to count her heartbeats, one, two, three, four, five... It was taking him too long to answer and she found herself feeling oddly hurt about it even she felt a sense of complete relief.

"Keith?" the hurt part of her whispered after another five heartbeats.

He swallowed and dropped her hands, his right one going to the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "Allura, I... I love you..."

It didn't sound at all like when Lance said it Allura thought and the real relief hit her then because this meant that maybe, maybe getting past this for the three of them wouldn't be as rocky and awful as she had had it in her head.

He grabbed her hands again then. "I do love you because you're the most beautiful person inside and out I think I've met. You have such a big heart Allura, you put your people before yourself and for you to do so at such a young age, having lost everything you have lost. It is, I just you're remarkable..."

Allura waited for him to say it but his eyes rose away from her gaze, he squeezed her hand and she saw his adam's apple bob up and down. She decided to help him out. "But?" she asked.

Keith sighed then he smiled a small, wry smile. "You're always so intuitive."

"I"m Arusian," she said.

"Tara."

"Your fiancee."

"I'll always be in love with her," he said.

That sounded like when Lance looked at her and told her how he felt, how he sounded shocked and surprised and like he didn't deserve her. He meant it about Tara all right, Allura thought with a smile. Whatever he felt about her didn't rise to that level, a lot like how she felt wasn't at like the connection she'd forged with Lance under her own nose. She smiled. "I understand," she said to prompt him to keep going.

"Allura, I've never really let her go. I, I had a dream about her the other night, the night of Altea's funeral, I think it was really Tara in it. I can't really remember it but she was letting me know I need to talk about her in order to really let her go."

Allura nodded.

"But I want to be with you, Allura."

Allura's eyes widened again, the conversation was turning back around to where she didn't want it to be. "I'm not sure I understand, Keith."

"You are beautiful, wonderful and we've been at cross purposes since you went to Coran for permission. But what made me say yes to your offer to date me, Allura. That I am attracted to you as a woman as for who you are as a Princess and a protector for your people. None of that has changed either. I think we have something, can have something, Allura and I don't want you to think I don't think that. You got scared the other night, we need to deal with that and I do, I need to deal with how hard I hold on to you because of not letting go of Tara's death. I haven't properly grieved but we don't need to lose us in the process."

_Us_, Allura thought and she felt sad, wrong and awful again. "I was scared the other night," she dissembled because she had been but for completely different reasons than Keith thought.

"You don't need to be, Allura. It won't happen again, I promise you."

"I was at fault too," Allura said.

"Then we both promise it won't happen again until you're ready?" Keith asked. "Allura, we do need to deal with what happened because I want to kiss you."

"I.." Allura didn't know what to do next, or say next. She couldn't kiss him, she couldn't. She felt if she did was leading him on and betraying Lance all at once. Lance had told her it'd be okay but she'd seen the fire in his eyes, the hatred of the idea of anyone else touching her. It wasn't okay. It wasn't okay with her, either.

The door to the room opened and Coran stood with a clipboard in his hands. "I am sorry to interrupt your time, Captain. However this cannot wait, as I was told forcefully by Nanny ten minutes ago before she pushed this at me and told me to come track down the Princess and you."

Keith rolled his eyes but then schooled his features into one of a proper response to Coran. "Yes, Coran?"

"Allura needs to mark when she wants to dance with you, as her escort down on her dance card."

"My dance card?" Allura said.

Coran nodded and walked over. "Yes. As you see we've made sure you've had two dances each with each Prince. Plus the other delegates it's important that you dance with, in my opinion. There are ten dances left, Nanny says that Three can be for Keith. She'd like four to be with the Princes again and Allura I agree. And then other two with me."

"But.." Allura stared at the dance card they'd penciled in for her, ignoring the that most of it was already filled out in ink. She stared. "But this leaves no dances with Lance, or... Sven..." she added to cover.

"I realize you might want to dance with your friends Allura, but this Ball is more business than pleasure and you will have three dances with Keith."

"Would you give up one," Allura asked him before her brain caught with her.

"Give up one?" Keith said.

"So, I can dance with Lance."

Keith gave her a long hard look, she could feel him trying to read her and she almost sent out answer it was so important but she just tried to look pleading enough but not too pleading. She knew she was pushing her luck here but she should at least be allowed to dance with who she wished. At least once. She felt tears start to appear, she was tired again remembering how long of a day she had and how much pressure they were putting on her to play Princess for those Princes.

"Allura, I do not recommend it."

Allura frowned. "Are you tell me to allocate my last ten dances this way, or allowing me to choose myself or not?"

Coran sighed. "I am pressing on your to use four of those dances with the princes, then three of them with your known Chaperone for the evening. They all spread out over the evening of course. Then the first dance of night, I would like to request for myself, Allura as has been our tradition as well as the last."

Allura stared at Coran and sighed. "No."

"No?" Coran said.

Keith sighed and grabbed her hand. "Allura, I really think you should..."

"You don't even know what I'm going to do," Allura snapped. "Why don't you let me make my decision first Keith, then if you still disagree with me you can give me a Keith-knows-better speech."

"I will dance with you first Coran, of course," Allura said, looking at the dances. "I think two dances is enough for the Princes. I will dance the three you have marked with Keith with Keith. And this dance, this dance, and the last dance of the night will be with Lance. The other three will go to Sven, Pidge and Hunk. This is my final answer decision," she scribbled it all down on the clipboard and then crushed it into Coran's chest and stalked back over the window and waited.

"Allura, dancing three times with Commander McClain is..."

"Happening," she snapped.

"Out of the question. Twice is all I can give you. You can not dance with him as often as your chaperone."

"Oh but I can dance with four strangers as often as Keith. But not Lance?" Allura barked at him. "That makes no sense."

Coran opened his mouth and then shut it again. "I...well...oh. Talk with her, Captain, please," he said and he walked out of the room.

"Allura, they are Princes."

"Lance is..." she almost said King but managed to stop herself before she put herself into an impossible corner. "Lance is my best friend."

Keith sighed. "Allura, I know you rather dance with him, and Sven, Pidge and Hunk. I understand I do and I will give up a dance for you to dance with Lance, okay? But, I think Coran is right about dancing one more time with the Princes."

"I don't, Keith, I just... I never, why... I never should've agreed to do this," she started to walk away.

He grabbed her hand. "Allura, please don't go..."

"Keith," she said, trying hard to fight her tears. "Don't, just don't. I'm tired, and I'm mad. Let me go," she begged and when he let go of her hand she walked out of the room without looking back.

Lance jumped up from his bed, where he was reading a motorcycle magazine when she walked in. She met his eyes and he took one look at her, walked over and pulled her into his arms. "Baby, what the hell, what's wrong?"

~~.~~

Lance paced his room. Allura had walked into his room over an hour ago and she hadn't stopped crying until twenty minutes ago. He hadn't gotten much out of her except for, tired, worried, Keith, Coran and Nanny. He could guess, he could guess it was about the Ball and about her fears that the both of them were the targets of the explosive device that'd gone off in her garden the week before. He didn't disagree with her, she knew that, but he kept saying he disagreed with her because he wanted her to be wrong.

If it was about him, about them, it meant that people from the future were in the past. It was bad on a million levels and he didn't even know where to begin to deal with it. He kept hoping it would turn out to be Haggar and Zarkon, messing with them, and that would attack the night of the Ball, saving him from having to watch Allura in the arms of different men all the damn night. Having to be open to the flirtations of Princes who for all he knew could be handsy-bastards.

He'd gone into his closet, found a pair of sweatpants and a shirt she's left his room another time and told her to go take a shower and get more comfortable. She muttered something about her dress and no one appreciating it that he didn't understand but all he cared about was not seeing her with tears streaming down her eyes.

He wanted to get to the bottom of this and try to make it better. If he could, he didn't think he could though. He changed into his own sweatpants for the night, turned off his television set but he couldn't sit down and wait for to emerge from the shower. He paced, worried and more than a little pissed about the Royal Politics Coran wanted her to do. He'd done some research, it'd been the tried and true policy of Arus when they had a Princess for centuries, much like all Arusian traditions. Hundreds upon hundreds of years old and something Lance thought needed to be tossed out the window and broken. Like the Undergrounds being such a secret, it made the darkness of them that much more hopeless and bleaker. The dark side of humanity was hard enough to take with it being seen as completely forbidden in everyday life.

He was getting angrier and angrier. He didn't understand Keith's position on this. Arus was strong, those four planets, he'd done his research on them too would be lucky to get into a trading agreement with Arus with out Allura having to pimp herself out. It was what it was to him, them pimping Allura out and when they didn't need too. Those planets needed Arus more than they needed them... why they weren't bargaining from the stronger position shocked Lance. That Coran who was such a strong strategist and advisor didn't see it, bothered him. Was he missing something? Was Coran that much of a traditionalist he'd lost sight that much of what Alfor wanted for Arus?

Alfor had left plans all over the Castle, if you knew how to look and where to look you could figure it out. Lance knew what Allura knew, he knew what he'd heard Alfor say himself and what Allura had heard. He knew what he'd found in the main computer about Alfor's future plans for Arus. Bringing everything into light, the Undergrounds. Alfor definitely wanted the Seers and Priests of Arus working together again and thank goodness Allura had already reinstated that, even though he knew it was a major work in progress. There had been threats, he worked with security so he knew it and he'd checked it all out himself. But Tarus, Mira and the others all looked at home in the Church and Mira had told him she was settling in quite well in her new home and had already spoken with her mother.

Maybe he should ask her about the explosion instead of trying to avoid the idea of it being connected to him and Allura, he thought as the door opened and Allura came out. She looked less wrecked but her eyes were puffy. She was gorgeous, he thought. He patted the side of the bed she always sat on when they talked in here.

She crawled onto the bed, but continued until she crawled into him, snuggled in and pulled the covers over them both. Pressing her face into the crook of his neck. "Hold me," she whispered.

"Not a problem. What happened?"

"You know," Allura whispered.

"I'd like details," Lance admitted.

"It's the dance, they wanted to make it so I couldn't dance with you. Or even get once dance with Hunk, Sven or Pidge. I just... I couldn't do that. So I figured out a way to dance with you three times and then Coran tried to tell me I couldn't dance with you three times because I could only dance with my chaperone that often. But the way he, Nanny and even Keith wanted it I would be dancing with the Princes three times too so I shoved his hypocrisy in his face. But Keith still wanted me to do it... and I just don't agree, and I can't believe I agreed in the first place to go along with them. What was I thinking?"

"I really don't know? You didn't want more conflict," Lance said. "I think it was you wanted to stop the conflicts you were having with them."

"Oh. Well, it didn't work," she laughed bitterly.

Lance moved so he was leaning over her. "You don't have to lead on those idiot Princes on you know?"

"Coran and Keith say I do, for Arus," Allura sighed. "I keep going over all the information and thinking I have all the bargaining cards but whenever I mention it they shake their heads."

"I think they're wrong, but you know that," Lance said.

"I should have listened to you," she whispered, tracing his lips with her index finger.

He kissed her finger, tucked her hair behind her ear and forced himself to ask, "How was the double date?"

"Awful. We had a fight before it and after it. He lectured me on to dress. Like I'd wear a dress I'd wear on a date to dinners with the guests to the Ball before the ball."

"You wore a date dress for him?" Lance asked and he heard the jealousy in his voice but he couldn't control it.

Allura smiled. "No. I wore it for you. I was going to come here no matter what. I didn't mean to be a mess."

"Oh," Lance laughed. "Well, wear it again sometime when your tears don't distract me, okay."

Allura grinned. "I will. I'm dancing with you at the Ball, they can't stop me."

Lance grinned. "We'll have to be careful."

"I know, it's just... Keith isn't in love with me you know."

Lance didn't believe her. "Where did you get that idea from. He loves you, Allura."

"I believe he loves me but I asked him if he was in love with me and it took him forever to answer. My feelings started to get to hurt which was weird because I was also relieved. But he wants to keep being with me, he says he has to let go of Tara more first or something."

"Doesn't mean he doesn't love you," Lance said, running his thumb up her cheekbone. "I love you," he whispered, his heart lodging his throat afraid she might remember she's always thought she belonged with Keith.

Allura grinned, her hand came up and touched his chest where his heart. "One heartbeat, I love you, two heartbeats, I love you," she laughed and Lance shook his head having no idea what she was talking about but didn't matter.

He leaned down and she leaned up and they kissed. It didn't matter he'd had her pressed against the castle wall about four hours ago it felt like he'd never kissed her before. She tasted like strawberry soda, her favorite drink and he thrust into her mouth more chasing down the taste. Licking it up until he got to the taste that was his Allura. She tasted like she smelled lavender-vanilla, honey and something spicy that reminded him of his grandmother's barbecue sauce. He pushed his hands up and under her shirt and her hands left his back and his hair, her arms going up, her back arching off the bed and he pulled it off of her and had to bite down hard on his lip to calm down his arousal and his nerves. They'd never gotten this far, he'd held them, touched them, pinched her nipples but he'd yet to see them.

She looked up at him, biting her own lip, her eyes wide and locked with his eyes. "Hi," she whispered and he knew she felt shy and unsure. She was turning as pink as one of her dresses everywhere.

"You're beautiful," he said before he averted his gaze back to her breasts. To really look, see them and he intended to map them with his tongue.

"Oh!" she gasped.

He laughed. "Didn't mean to send that," he said, knowing he was blushing himself as he gently squeezed her breasts together in his hands, then moved down to take her left nipple in his mouth.

"Oh," she gasped out loud and in his head. _Map away, map away._ Her hands went into his hair, pressing down, playing his hair, nails in his scalp. Her legs wrapping around his waist, tighter than ever, grinding up into him without thought.

_How the hell am I supposed to wait for you?_

_You won't have too._

Lance's mouth came off her nipple with a pop and he met her eyes and she met his with bright red cheeks but and a fiery expression behind her eyes. Allura nodded.

"Yeah," he said.

"Huh uh," she nodded.

He grinned and his mouth landed on hers again, he pulled her close into him crushing her breast against his chest and he thought to her. _Remind me again I'm not hallucinating._

Allura laughed in his head and slapped his ass with her hand. _Real._

_God! Allura, damn, I love you!_


	57. Chapter 57

Fifty-seven

Allura gripped Lance's ass, she loved his ass, she loved him she thought as new sensations rolled through her as his mouth licked and sucked on her right nipple, his fingers toying with her left. She felt safe and on the edge of asking him to erase what was left of her innocence right now and then. Fear rushed her as she thought it and he gently bit her nipple turning her on more. The two contradicting emotions flooding her, making her gasp out his name both aloud and in his head. He pulled away from her skin, his hands coming up to cup her face and met her eyes.

"Hey, we aren't rushing, no way. We won't wait, either but no rushing, Baby," he said and he kissed her soundly, tongue slipping in and she slid her own against his and he pulled away, glanced down her breasts with an expression on his face that always took her breath away. It made her feel more beautiful, she couldn't barely comprehend how loved it made her feel, his eyes moved up and she met his gaze.

"I love you," he whispered and she'd known it was coming yet the words filled with a rush of great happy surprise and she smiled in truthful reaction.

"I love you, too."

"Baby," Lance whispered, he leaned down and kissed her forehead, then her cheek, then his lips were against her ear. "You have to get dressed," he whispered a frustrated sigh edging the words.

"I do?" Allura asked feeling like teasing him and pushing her luck. She thrust her hips up, where her legs were wrapped around his hips, where he was pressed against her, driving her insane with pressure and curiosity she was almost ready to sate.

Lance laughed, bit her ear gently, tweaked one of her nipples and whispered, "Allura, we don't have condoms and if you keep pushing, I will break and we both know you deserve better than that."

Allura frowned at the intimation he wasn't good enough for her, that he'd break and take her before she was really ready because he wouldn't. She knew this because it was in his actions every single time they were together. He was always the one to stop them, and she was always the one pushing. She reached behind her, where her top had ended up on the headboard.

"You're going to make it perfect," she said out loud as she set him free from her legs so he moved away. Which wasn't far, he rolled over back to his side of his bed. She pulled her shirt back on and rolled over to her side and met his gaze. They were face to face, she reached out and palmed his cheek, feeling the growth of hair there and grinned.

_You're too hard on yourself, Lance. You'd never hurt me._

_I won't mean too but what if.._

_You won't hurt me._

"Stop it," Allura finished her thoughts with her voice. She shook her head, and snuggled into him, kissing the spot of his chest over his heart.

"But I am," Lance said.

"What?" Allura questioned.

"I'm asking you to lie to Keith, it's making all the stress you are going through worse, Allura."

Allura sighed. "That isn't hurting me, that's you trying to protect me. It's like when Keith lectures and makes me feel like he doesn't trust me by questioning everything I decide and do. Being a control freak. He does it because he's trying to protect me, the Castle. And yeah, I get a little hurt when it feels like he doesn't know me at all but I know he doesn't mean it that way. It's the same thing, the lying and it sucks and yes it hurts. But I agree with you as much as I hate it."

"You hate lying to him," Lance said, leaning his forehead against hers and closing his eyes.

"You hate it as much as I do, you never mention that," Allura said, threading her fingers into his hair feeling waves of guilt run from him as he thought about Keith.

"He's been my best friend for a long time," Lance said. "Hell, he's kind of my hero too." He laughed. "Though, I think we have different definitions."

Allura laughed as he winked at her and shook her head. "I guess we might, maybe mine is changing to something closer to yours..."

Lance shook his head, she felt jealousy wave off him and he sighed. "No, a part of you, you'll always love him."

Allura wanted to argue but she found she couldn't, she moved in closer to Lance, moved her hand out of his hair and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed herself in against his chest again smelling the smoky leathery essence of him. "You're my man."

"After the Ball, we get through the Ball unscathed, then we tell him. There are too many civilians around starting tomorrow, Allura. Not just us, delegates, Princes, Princesses... not to mention all of Arus. That unknown danger..."

"You mean the danger that is probably from the future," Allura whispered out loud.

Lance snorted. "After the ball, you and I, we'll sit down and tell Keith everything..."

"Us?"

"Us. And after he punches me, the future."

Allura frowned at the thought of Keith hitting Lance and she hoped it wouldn't happen but she couldn't picture it not happening. Keith wasn't one to settle things with his fists, not generally but Lance had way of pushing Keith to limits others couldn't. Keith got madder with normal day to day arguments with Lance than with anyone else. And she'd seen him get physical with Lance over her, she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Baby."

"You're sorry you love me," she asked confused.

"Hell, no. I'm sorry that there is no way to tell him that won't hurt you, or him."

"Or you."

Lance shrugged.

"Just hold me for a bit," Allura whispered, knowing she had to leave his arms soon.

Lance tightened his hold on her, moved so half her body was on top of him, she moved into him even though she'd already nestled in as close as she could. "Don't fall into a deep sleep," he cautioned with a yawn of his own hitting him.

"Uh huh," she agreed as she fell asleep.

~~.~~

Lance woke up, fifteen minutes before his alarm was set to go off, he was still popping antibiotics. He thought Gorma was being way overbearing with the amount of pills but he wasn't going to argue with the man who had control over his flight status. Allura was wrapped around him like the best, curviest, wrapping paper in the world. He sighed realizing it was going on four in the morning, she needed to get back to her room but damn if he didn't want wake her up. She looked her age for once, no worry around her eyes adding any age, no expression under the blue of her irises adding to the inherent wisdom and grace that already made her appear older than age. She looked young, beautiful and care free. He wished he could make her life care free, if only for a few hours but it was an impossible wish. At least for the next few years. Maybe somehow, someday he could give her that freedom; he wasn't sure how knowing what he did about their future, about there being peace but then more war. He frowned, wishing they didn't know so much but he shook his head to clear it and was about to wake her by kissing her when his door slide open.

In that moment he had deja vu, not from a dream, but from the memory of reading it. Only this felt different from what he read and Keith's eyes looked more than angry. More than hurt. He looked stung as his dark eyes fell on Allura's form, wrapped up next to Lance. Lance swallowed as met Keith's eyes, knowing there was no way to hide his guilt because he was guilty but he couldn't pretend Allura wasn't there, in his arms.

"Why?" Keith asked. His voice low, quiet and disturbing because of it. It was worse than him yelling, or sounding righteous with a lecture of what was appropriate and what wasn't.

"She was upset about the Ball," Lance said going with as much of the truth he could use.

Keith rolled his eyes. "That leads to her in your bed?"

Lance shrugged.

Keith's eyes fell on the gold cocktail dress that was hanging off the back of Lance's closet door. He then looked at Allura again, eyes widening then glancing at Lance.

"She has on sweats and a shirt. God, Keith, come on," Lance rolled his eyes. He also thanked his lucky stars they were going slow. For him they were going slow because it was all knew to him as well. Allura was his first love, his only love, it was new and she wasn't completely ready and he was going to wait for her that long anyway.

Keith nodded. "Wake her up, send her to her room."

"She grounded," Lance said then he wanted to strangle himself because that's what he'd said the other time and it'd been the wrong thing to say. What was wrong with him? He'd just spat it out again, what the hell?

Dark eyes flashed. "She should be in her room, Lance. She shouldn't be here. I've put up with a lot of crap from this damn friendship of yours with her. I've apologized every fucking time I've gotten jealous or mad over her turning to you, or taking up for you. But...she's in your fucking bed. The day that people are going to start arriving. She's refusing to do what is politically best by dancing with the princes one more time each the night of the Ball. She came running to you after getting in her snit... and she fell asleep here? Maybe she should be grounded."

"So what Keith? You want her grounded because of the politics or the personal?" Lance asked his damn curiosity getting the better of him.

"Both," Keith spat out.

That pissed Lance off. He got the personal, he gave Keith the personal. He'd walk through fire to get Red Lion for months to make things up to Keith after all the lying, and being with Allura behind his back. But the political crap, the political crap pissed Lance the fuck off.

"That's bullshit," Lance said, sitting up and dislodging Allura from himself. "There is not one fucking reason for you to pissed off at her about the fucking stupid dance."

"She isn't do what is best for Arus."

"No. You and Coran aren't doing what is fucking best for Arus. He's been continually asking her to go against her own instincts when it comes to this planet, and you keep siding with him. You're both dead wrong. It's not what Alfor would want, he's lost sight of what the man he used to advise wanted for the planet, for Allura."

"Oh, and you know better?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Yeah, right Lance, like you give a shit about Arusian politics."

"I know that Arus's location and the fact it has Voltron puts it in the power position war or no war with any planet it bargains with, just like it puts Allura in the power position with the Garrison, something we encourage her to use. Yet when it comes to other planets, Coran acts like she has to use her smile and her looks to help land their allegiance. It's bull. She can get those four planets that Coran thinks are so vital without batting an eyelash at any fucking prince. Coran pimping her out is not needed."

Keith opened his mouth, stopped and then he lifted his hand pointing. "Wake her up and get her to her room. I have to go calm down Nanny and figure out what to tell her and Coran."

"That they made her cry half the night, Keith, how about that!" Lance shouted after Keith's retreating form.

"That didn't go well," Allura said.

Lance snorted. "I think it went slightly better than last time."

"Last time?"

"I read about that, in my journal. Don't know how I didn't see it coming until the door opened."

His alarm blared, Allura turned and stopped it. "Antibiotic time."

"Goody," Lance sighed and got out of the bed.

"Pimp me out?" she repeated.

"I know it's not exactly what they are doing, but you know Coran and Nanny are hoping you'll like one of them more than Keith. And well, it's close enough."

Allura sighed. "It feels like it sometimes," she admitted following him into the bathroom. "He sounded weird."

Lance sighed, guilt drowning him for a second. "He was hurt you were in here."

_Oh._

It was a silent, quiet, hard reaction for her, a wave of guilt, washing over him from her, drowning him some more. He looked over and nodded. "I'm sorry," he said.

She shook her head. "I got us into this mess."

"You were following where you thought your heart wanted to go, Allura."

"Yeah, it took a sudden new direction on me, though." She smiled and walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"Standing up for me. The Ball. It won't do any good, but thank you," she said.

"If I could..."

"I know," she said cutting him off but he finished it anyway in their heads.

_I'd tell them all to go fuck themselves and dance with you the whole night._

_It'd be a sight to see, _Allura thought back blushing as she looked back at him from gathering her dress.

~~.~~

Allura peacefully asleep, a hand on Lance's chest above his heart, a small smile on her face... Keith couldn't get the visual out of his mind as he walked back to Coran's office where he'd been called thirty minutes earlier to find a panicked Nanny and a worried Coran. He'd been panicked too upon investigating and realizing Allura had never made it to her room the night before. Yet his instincts fought with the evidence his mind was seeing as he remembered the way Allura had stalked out of the room on him and Coran.

She'd been hurt by their insistence she take no time for herself, no time be with her friends... Lance, Keith thought now, he'd tried not think about how so much of her reasons for being angry had been about dancing with Lance three times, while it was only once with everyone else. He thought about where she might go when she was that upset and his first thought had been her garden, but it was a mess now, thanks to the bombing.

She and Lance had nearly been killed, he thought, then he thought Lance was usually in that damn garden with her these days. That meant she might go to Lance, so he went straight to Lance's room. Opened the door with his override code and there she was, sleeping peacefully and beautiful. And there he was awake and looking at him like a man caught with a beautiful woman in his bed.

At least Lance had the decency to look guilty about it but that was as far as it went. He hadn't heard an apology about it, when he'd seen her dress hanging on the back of the closet, Lance had acted affronted that Keith would think there was anything going on between them. Why shouldn't Keith think that? He'd seen the looks between them and he wasn't thinking about Lance's. That he expected, he'd seen Allura's when she thought no one was paying attention. How she'd look at Lance from across a room in a way Keith never remembers her looking at him, it's a different look from her crush on him. From how she still looks at him sometimes, still but it's more and more rare to catch that sweet admiring look from her aimed at him. Seeing her there, it punched him, he'd been crazy to let himself keep talking himself out of the gut instinct that he shouldn't be worried about their friendship.

Lance was stealing her away, right under his nose, and he'd been making it easy thinking he'd been overreacting. Being noble and trusting, thinking he was being possessive, wrong and untrusting to think it was something to worry about. Everytime he exploded about the two of them he ended up apologizing. Not this time, he found her in another man's bed, she wasn't talking him out of being angry this time. It was too much, it didn't matter what sent her there. It didn't matter that maybe, maybe Lance had a point about the planets and Arus' true power in all negotiations and gaining allies. It didn't matter that maybe he and Coran had pushed her too hard the night before. Allura continued to run to another man, that wasn't him and they'd made promises to each other.

The problem was he didn't know how to fix it and they were going to be busy. too busy soon, he swallowed. He was angry but he couldn't deal with it now, it would have to wait until after the Ball. But she was going to find out that he was angry before then. He was telling Allura that as soon as the last delegate and the last Garrison ship left Arusian space they were sitting down and she was listening to why he was pissed the hell off.

He walked into Coran's office. Nanny started shouting in her histrionic way, Coran looked at him with worried eyes, pulling at his mustache. Keith put up a hand. "She'll be in room within the hour, I found her sleeping in Romelle's room," he lied, and made a mental note to tell everyone where he said Allura had been.


	58. Chapter 58

_I keep forgetting to say this, thanks to everyone who is commenting. Every comment helps me tell a better story and I love knowing people are reading so thank you. And long live Lance and Allura :-)_

Chapter 58

Lance fiddled with the earpiece in his ear, attempting to get it in there so he wouldn't notice it all night, didn't have to worry about it falling out because it would make his night easier over all at being both Ball guest and Ball security. He frowned but finally it fell into place, not that he felt all that comfortable in the fancy tuxedo he was wearing, with tails, vest, tie, and overcoat. He felt overdressed and under-qualified to be in attendance. At least he wasn't the only one who felt out of place in the formal wear, Hunk and Pidge both walked up to him fiddling with their collars.

"I'm hot," Hunk muttered. "Can I take off this damn overcoat?"

"No," Lance muttered. "Trust me I asked and asked," he said, scanning the crowd that was forming. He noticed Tarus was standing with Coran and had the urge to hurry over to the older Seer and ask him for the lowdown on what was going to happen for the night.

Lance had against his own better judgement sought out Mira the night before and she'd told him she couldn't see anything about the Ball. Nothing at all. Not even him and Allura dancing, which she found strange, she also felt that Tarus knew something that he wasn't sharing. She didn't understand it. She said she hadn't seen the bomb soon enough to warn them, it'd been unexpected, something that hadn't been in the present until the moment it appeared. Making it difficult for her to foresee, she apologized to him for being unable to warn them; not for the first time either.

Keith kept saying that his bones told him that the people responsible for the bomb would pull something at the Ball. You didn't leave a warning like that and not follow it up with something worse. Lance had to agree with his fearless leader, he fiddled with his cuffs wondering if he'd put on the cufflinks right. A hand appeared on the fabric, small, lean and nimble fingers fixing his cufflinks.

"There you go, Commander," Fleur said, then she kneeled back down and picked back up the tray with drinks she was passing around the crowd. "Champagne?"

Lance sighed. "I'm working."

He heard Hunk groan. "Damn it, I'm thirsty."

"Get water," Lance said, looking back at him.

"How do they do it?" he heard Pidge say between him and Hunk, he glanced at Pidge and then followed the teenager's gaze and saw Sven and Keith. They were at the top of the stairs, probably waiting for Allura and Romelle, both of them looking born to wear the formal wear that Lance, Hunk and Pidge felt stuffed into.

Lance swallowed, reached back and grabbed a champagne flute before Fleur got far away and downed it, thinking, Allura would see it. She'd see Keith tonight and she'd see him tonight and she'd realize which one would make the better husband to a Queen.

Behind him Hunk laughed, Pidge nudged Lance. "Do you think that maid would dance with me?"

Lance turned to look at Pidge, then watched Fleur handing out a few more drinks and shook his head. "Don't trust her, stay away, Pidge," he said.

Hunk and Pidge exchanged glances. "What do you mean you don't trust her?"

"Don't trust who?" Keith's voice asked with a hard edge to it.

Lance felt the ice. He'd been the cold shoulder from Keith for the last four days, since he'd walked in on him and Allura in his room. They hadn't been caught red handed but it'd been close enough. Keith been polite, he'd been professional and he'd been clear. They were both in trouble and there wasn't going to be an easy resolution the day after the Ball.

Keith didn't know the half of it, Lance thought. THat was if Allura didn't realize she'd made a critical mistake after tonight, seeing the two of them in a diplomatic situation. Keith would shine and he'd be the bull in the china shop.

"Are you drinking?"

"Downed one flute, sue me," Lance snapped.

"He doesn't trust the new maid, Fleur. Pidge, has crush on her," Hunk said, quickly to change the subject.

Keith's dark eyes darted to Fleur and he nodded. "Something is up with her, Lance is...crush on someone else, Pidge."

"Do you think she has something to do with the bomb?" Sven asked.

"No," both Keith and Lance said.

Pidge sighed. "Then what is the problem."

"She showed up right before the bomb and she was way too worried about Allura afterward..." Keith and Lance met each other's eyes and broke off speaking in unison.

"Where is your date?" Keith asked.

"Getting ready with Allura," Lance said. Though he'd wondered if it'd been a good idea to let Lara go into Allura's bedroom alone but Allura had insisted. Lara for what it was worth had breathed out in relief when he'd told her he was done trying to cajole her into a serious relationship and that he was in love with Allura. He hadn't told Lara they were together yet, however, didn't seem like a fair thing to do to her and Allura knew all this. Lara was doing him a favor by being his date, so he would have someone while the girl he wanted was with Keith or the stupid lame Princes.

As he thought about them, his eyes scanned the crowd and pulled them out. They were all handsome, they all looked as comfortable in the damn formal clothes as Keith but he supposed they would being born in formal diapers and all.

"I need more alcohol," he muttered.

"Lance," Keith snapped.

"What? You're looking forward to seeing Allura dance with chiseled jaw over there," Lance asked because he wasn't in the mood to play dumb. His eyes pointing at the closest prince. A handsome blonde with sharp cheekbones and a dimple in his chin.

"I don't like him." Hunk and Pidge said in unison.

Keith sighed.

Sven cleared his throat and got all of their attention. "Men, the ladies are here."

Lance turned in the direction that Sven was staring, his eyes fell on Allura and everything else disappeared. Her hair was piled on top of her head in curly loops in a way that looked ready to fly away and flow down over her shoulders again. He dared it to happen with his eyes but he knew it wouldn't as his eyes fell on her bare shoulders. The dress was strapless, royal blue and the fabric looked light and soft, not heavy and shaped like her older pink dresses always had. The dress showed off her waist, and the skirt fell to her feet where Lance knew she was teetering on the heels, hating them and wishing for her combat boots. Allura looked radiant, he met her bright blue eyes and he grinned. _Hottest Princess in the room._

_Hottest King in the room._

He coughed at her retort, ran his finger along his collar to cover the reaction and shook his head at her. Allura's laughter bubbled in his head. _ Look at Lara, Lance...ugh, I can't believe I just said that._

_When you look at Keith._

Allura forced her eyes away from him, Lance felt cold as if she'd taken away the sun for a second but they had to play by the rules they'd laid out for themselves one more night. He moved his eyes among the women, Mira, Romelle, both looking fantastic and he found Lara. Red hair pulled back in a fancy braid, wearing a fabulous green gown that matched her eyes that Lance was sure she couldn't afford. He sighed when he thought about it, about how much he owed her for tonight, for putting up with him for so long when she'd known where his heart really lay. She'd hit him upside the head when he told her he was in love with Allura and said about damn time, McClain.

He took a breath, and decided to cross the room to greet her away from Keith greeting Allura. It'd be for the best, though it wouldn't hurt to cross paths with Allura for a second. He winked at her as they past and she grinned with a called out. "Remember, Commander, the fourth dance of the evening is yours."

"Couldn't forget that, Princess Allura," he said.

Then he heard the noise again, that hum he'd heard before the bomb appeared out in the garden. He turned and grabbed Allura's arm, looking around, he looked across the room at where Keith still stood with Sven and they locked eyes.

"It's the noise," Sven said, his voice coming in the earpiece and across the room, all the guests going silent at the strange hum in the air.

"It's different," Lance said, his eyes darting across the room as he pulled Allura closer into him.

"I don't see anything," Allura said and then there were pops.

Pops and people all in black appearing out of nowhere in random positions all about the large ballroom, on both levels of it, some with guns and some with carrying staffs. Lance's hand moved to his blaster which was concealed under his coats, he knew the rest of them were doing the same and he was impressed when Allura pulled one out of somewhere.

"Whose in charge?" Keith's voice said in their ears.

There was one last pop. A woman, tall, in a white dress carrying a large staff appeared at the top of the stairs near Coran and Nanny. She surveyed the room. "Show them what you can do," she yelled.

It was chaos, the gun shots from the people in the black were unlike anything Lance had ever seen before, he, and the rest of his team was shooting back but they also had to work at crowd control, crowd safety and within all the laser and blaster shots there was magic. Magic that was different than that he knew and didn't understand from Haggar, it seemed more precise, it had a different level of control and it scared it more than Haggar ever had. And Haggar terrified him when it came down to it, Lance thought, as he and Allura corralled Lara, as well as a large group of civilians plus one of the Princes Allura was meant to be dancing with into another room out of the foyer where all hell had broken loose.

"Keith?" Lance said, ducking down his head trying to contact Keith to see what his leader had to say about the situation, he closed the door, counted to see how many people he and Allura had gotten out, eyeballing how many had gotten hurt.

Lara was helping a woman, whose side was bleeding who was white from the pain. He went over and bent down to check out the wound and frowned. Energy pulses could be seen pulsating over it, Lara was pressing down a section she'd ripped off her dress over it, he saw the energy pulse over her hands and she gasped. "Fuck," she cried out.

"Shit," he muttered.

Lara gritted her teeth and went back in. Lance stood up and saw the Prince talking with Allura, he had a sword in his hand but Allura was shaking her head. Lance walked over. "What's going on?"

"He wants to go out there, with that," Allura eyed the sword.

Lance looked at it, it was a real sword but it was old, unsharpened and had been regulated to ceremonial and dress use for years was his guess. "Look, Prince..."

"Delos."

"Delos, you're better off in here, for now anyway."

As he spoke there was a large spark and Lara was thrown from her spot on the floor against the wall, where she fell flat on the ground. Lance ran to her, checked her pulse but was hit with a spark of energy before he could find it. "Shit."

Allura was on her side, staring as the energy pulses ran over the whole of Lara's skin, her face, her arms and what they could see of her arms. "This transferred from the other wound?"

Lance nodded. "Keith? Keith? Anyone?" he talked again, fiddling with the ear piece. "Crap, stay here. Don't touch them."

Allura's hand hovered over Lara. "Is she alive?"

"I didn't get a chance to check. don't touch her."

"The other woman, she's still bleeding..." Allura looked at the woman Lara had been helping, a pool of blood was forming.

Lance locked grim eyes with Allura's. _ Baby I'm sorry. Don't touch them. Don't let anyone touch them._

He glanced at Delos. "You, no one but me or one of my team gets in this door, Allura will know if it's us. Got it?"

Prince Delos, nodded and looked petrified as Lance grabbed the knob on the door. He glanced back at Allura. _Anyone you don't know tries to get in this room, shoot first ask questions later._

Allura nodded.

~~.~~

Keith ducked another blast of magic, keeping Mira and Romelle behind him they went deeper down the hallway the waiter and waitresses were using to go in and out of the kitchen. The end of the hall, the back and forth swinging door was eerily still and Keith didn't like it at all. He didn't like not knowing who his enemy was and he liked it less that he didn't understand their technology or their magic.

"Anyone? Sven? Lance?" Keith yelled again, cupping a hand around his ear. Why aren't they working, why can't he talk to his team and find out what is going on.

"Try telepathy," Mira said.

Keith frowned. "We can't do that."

"You can," Mira said.

"Sven said Lance used it on him the other day."

Keith frowned. "Maybe I can with Allura, but the others..."

"You are the Hero of Arus, try it," Mira said, her hand on his shoulder.

More shots of magic flew down the hallway, Keith flattened himself and the two women behind him, his hand going out over Mira's stomach, his hand landing on Romelle's, thinking about Sven's baby there. He was getting more angry at whoever had infiltrated the Castle by the second. He had to try, he needed to talk to his team. He had to find out what they were learning, what they'd seen, and most important they had to find a way to regroup.

Allura. He and Allura had done this before, with parsecs between them. He cleared his mind, he pushed away his doubts, his questions and his anger at her because his instincts told him they were in the way. He reached out with his mind, thinking about how she'd looked right before Lance had reached out and grabbed her because he'd heard the telltale hum that had preceded the bomb.

She looked beautiful, alive and happier than he'd seen her in a long time - and it'd killed him a bit inside because he could tell she was talking to Lance. Keith shook his head, he was too angry, it was too much, they'd been talking, he could see it even if their mouths weren't working. Allura had walked into the room and sought out Lance's eyes, he wasn't blind but what he didn't understand was why she was still with him. Did she know what she was doing?

Another blast and he swore to himself, this wasn't the time and he had to reach them but he couldn't do it in the hallway. "Move, I'll try once we get to the kitchen," he gripped his blaster, unsure of what they might meet when they get there. He expected the staff to popping out of the door but they weren't. He was worried and Romelle knew it. She and he exchanged a glance but she hurried along, clinging to the wall, Mira between them, her own eyes casting a suspicious look at the kitchen door and Keith wondered what she knew.

Keith estimated that two people were using the staffs to cast the magic out at them, he counted the blasts and yelled, go to Romelle for her enter the kitchen. He'd given her his blaster, hating to her go first but he couldn't risk Romelle and Mira timing the blasts without him. He hated Catch 22's. She went, pushed through the swinging door and was inside.

"Oh, Polluxian Gods," she cried.

"What is it?"

"Keith," she cried, and Keith knew he'd have to wait to get in there.

He counted the blasts again and sent Mira through, then he went in and nearly vomited at the sight. The entire kitchen staff, some of the waitstaff and a few of Allura's maids were all the ground, electric pulses running over their blanched skin. It was an awful sight and Keith couldn't tell if they dead or not, but it didn't look good. He walked over and was about to kneel down and take a pulse when he heard a voice.

"Don't touch them, it will transfer over to you and before you know it you're flat on your ass, in some sort of stasis getting zapped by the electricity."

Keith turned, blaster out and pointed and saw the maid, Fleur. The one that had spiked his instincts when he found out Nanny had hired her right before the Ball, that he had worried about again after the bomb. He'd seen Lance eyeing her as well and knew he had some questions himself. She wasn't in her maid uniform, she was wearing a skin tight uniform of some sort herself, of black and red. She was closing a piece of black technology around her right arm as she spoke to him. "Who the hell are you?"

"Doesn't matter," she said.

"Doesn't matter? There are dangerous people out there who have infiltrated this Castle and you rattle my bones."

"They won't reach their objective. You and your team, how do you communicate?"

"We have ear pieces."

"Seriously?" she said. "Magic can wreck havoc with those things like whoa...' she rolled her eyes. "That's seriously irresponsible."

Keith stared at her and stated it again. "Who the hell are you?"

"Look, Captain, it doesn't matter. What does matter is I'm not going to let that future bitch mess with my timeline either."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes. "You have to get that they are from the future, right?"

Keith was tired of this, he moved forward, holstering his blaster looking around for something he could use to tie her up with once he had her down. Seeing the aprons hanging, he decided he could cut off the strings and use those, but first he'd just take down the crazy teenager. Problem was crazy teenager looked up from tightening another black contraption to her left wrist, saw him approaching, her hazel eyes narrowed. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me," she said and before he could make a move she kicked his legs out from under him.

Keith sprang back up and went after her. She backed them up and away from any bodies they might actually fall and hit. Then she kept diving, dodging and pratically dancing out of his reach like she knew what he was going to do before he did it. He went to slam his hand into her chest, deciding to stop going easy on her and ended up on his back; she had counter moved him. Him.

"Keith!" Mira yelled before could jump back up. "Trust her."

"What?"

"You should trust her."

"Why the hell would I do that? She's had my instincts on alret since she showed up out of nowhere, there is not a reason on Arus to trust her, Mira."

"She is what she says. She's from the future and she may be the best chance to stop the threat... which is from another future."

Keith's frustration reached new levels. "What?"

"The bitch, in the white. She's from some future over 300 years from now and she wants to kill the McClain bloodline on Arus before it begins... and she picked tonight because apparently it's a vital point in how and why everything went the way it does... Or so I heard two of her stupid minions say when they were in my time. I'm only from twenty-something years or in the future, anyway... I tagged along while trying to stop one of her minions from taking something from the Castle in my time, to here. I heard what her plan is and I have no intention of letting it happen," the girl spat out.

Keith looked between the red head and Mira. Mira looked back at him with calm brown eyes and nodded. He looked back at the red head and saw angry hazel eyes and a determined face with a chin that jutted out that unsettled him ways he couldn't pinpoint He thought of what the young girl had said to him before and how Mira wanted him to believe her and it didn't gel. "What?" Keith said again.


	59. Chapter 59

Fifty-nine

Lance ducked, rolled, fired and scrambled behind the bar that had been set up just outside the large double doors that led to the Castle of Lions ballroom. Behind it he found Sven and Pidge, with two of the waitstaff. He grinned, "Gentlemen."

"Our earpieces are not working, I believe it is the magic," Pidge said.

Lance didn't like the sound of that, magic interferring with their communications. "Can you override it?"

Pidge was clicking away on a device he always carried with him on his utility belt when he was in uniform, it was comforting to see him with it now as well. He was always ready and prepared for anything, Lance watched the fingers moving and waited. Pidge was trying to see if he could indeed counteract it but from the way Pidge's mouth was curving downward and the tongue was poking out on the left, Lance wasn't feeling assured it would happen.

"No. I don't... their technology is... I think it's merged with the magic. Those staffs and those guns, I'm not so sure they are separate weapons, there seems to be a consistency in their power source and it's unlike anything I've ever seen before."

Anna, Lance thought, the woman in the white had to be the Scientist/Sorceress Anna from three hundred years in the future who ruled the Arielist, who had tried to take over the Castle while he and Allura had been there thinking she had the upper hand due there being no way for the King to send out Voltron after her. Lance shuddered to think what may have happened if he hadn't been there...only if he hadn't been there would she be here now. In the Castle, attempting to do what exactly?

Kill him, probably. The threat had been to stop the line before it began, this was about him and Allura. Their line, the line of future Kings and Queens that King Coran and his children had spoke about with such awe and pride at being their legacies.

"What is it Lance?" Sven asked.

"You see anyone with a wound that has an energy field pulsing on it, don't touch it, don't try to stop anyone from bleeding out. The magic, whatever it is, it's infectious. It sent Lara into a wall and she's out cold, I couldn't even touch her long enough to get a pulse without a charge. I couldn't risk it."

Pidge and Sven gave him twin looks of horror, at he idea of letting people bleed out because of what would happen but they both nodded. "Pidge, come with me. I want you to study Lara and the wounded woman in the room we holed up," Lance said, maybe the kid could figure away around it.

"Okay," Pidge said.

"Sven stay here, kill who you can, keep them safe. If you see Keith tell him what's up. We're in the first room off the that hallway," Lance pointed towards where all the firing was going on.

"I don't like one thing, Lance," Sven said.

"What?"

"They are staying at long range, fire, in a chaotic fashion... they aren't even aiming for anyone particular. Yet that woman in the white, the witch. She has a goal in her mind. I don't see the connection, I don't understand the tactics or the advantage."

Lance frowned and looked around the chaotic scene around him, people down and bleeding. Other people down with the energy pulse all around them, pale skin and no sign if they were alive or dead. He was bout to meet Sven's eyes and agree when they all heard a familar scream.

"Nanny!" they all yelled.

Lance took the lead, rushing through the chaos, dodging the blasts, praying he didn't get hit with the magic and if he did it'd be a laser hit only. Blood he could deal with, he couldn't afford to have pulsating energy around him that could endanger someone trying to help him more. He warned Pidge and Sven about it one more time.

Nanny's screams kept coming, leading them straight into the ballroom where they found Coran dangling in the air underneath the large pink crystal chandelier unconscious. A magical field of purple and blues was around him and Nanny was on the ground, screaming and reaching and flailing. Lance, Sven and Pidge, when back to back to back and circled the room blasters out ward but there was no sign at all where the magic was coming from.

Another door burst open and Hunk came running through it, crouched low his blaster out as well and he took a look around the room and then after his eyes landing on Coran for awhile, he met Lance's eyes. "It's crazy out there, you can't help anyone who got hurt by the magic without risking getting zapped yourself. Gorma's down."

Lance nodded, kept his blaster out and walked over to the still hysterical Nanny. "Nanny, Nanny," he said, touching her shoulder.

She turned on him, of course her dark eyes fierce and full of fear. "Get him down from there, you get him down from there right now!"

Lance looked up and thought he loved too but he didn't know how. "Nanny, I need you to tell us exactly what happened. How did Coran get up there?"

"How? How... that witch, that woman who has trespassed on this Castle and ruined this night. She appeared before us and then we were here and she ranted at us. She told us that what we fear the most would come to pass, Allura would chose the wrong paths, she wouldn't marry a man worthy of the throne and that Arus would fall to a shambles, traditions lost, the old ways that matter the most lost forever. She said it must be fixed and she was starting with now and she wanted Coran to give her access to all Castle security measures and computer archives. He refused of course, and she told him he would regret it because Allura's choice was no true King and only a true King of Arus can break that spell."

"I don't get it," Hunk said.

"It's pure magic. Which I believe would mean the only way to break the spell would be reverse it, with the staff that made it and you'd have to know magic to do so I would think. I don't see how Keith could do it?" Pidge said waving his device under Coran's feet as high as he could reach. "Hunk, give me a boost, I want closer readings...just in case, I'm wrong here."

Lance and Sven locked eyes. Lance felt dizzy, unprepared and baffled. She'd come here to kill him but she wanted to test him too? Did she care if she wrong or right? He looked up at Coran, he focused in on his face and it looked far from peaceful. There was pain there, he knew that look he'd seen it on friends faces when they slept unsettled from drugs in hospital rooms after horrible injuries with pain medicine couldn't dull.

He couldn't do this alone, he knew that much, he turned back to Sven. "Find Keith, I'm getting Allura," he said and started to walk towards the large double doors that led into the ballroom. Only to have an electric shock knock him off his feet, into Sven and the two of them to the floor.

Then a voice boomed, laughing and loud in the room, echoing off the walls to show she wasn't really there but she was watching. "Oh, no, no Lance McClain. Once in my fishbowl, you don't get to leave until you are belly up and dead. The Princess and the Hero will find their own way here soon enough, I'll make sure of it."

~~.~~

Keith took a deep breath, he pointed at _Fleur_ who he was distrusting the longer he spoke to her with her real personality flowing out of her. The story made no sense and Romelle wanted him to take time out and slow it down let it make sense? "You, whoever you are, don't move."

He walked over to Romelle, glancing at Mira to include her in what he was about to say since she had been the one to tell to trust the teenager first. Mira's gaze locked with his for that second and he was amazed by the calm of it because there was fear there, she wasn't unafraid. He needed to find out what she knew but he wondered how much of it she'd share.

"I am not taking the lead from a strange, crazy-speaking, teenager who I don't trust," he barked at the two women.

"She's not crazy," Mira said. "She is from the future."

Keith focused his gaze back on Mira. "You expect me to accept that as an explanation?"

"No. But it is the truth. I have seen her birth, I have seen her wedding, the only thing I did not foresee was this... I'm seeing now it was because I was to be a part of it. Seers do not see things in which their are a part of, and also this is a battle. Tarus told me to trust in her being here, it was fixed. She's meant to be here, she has to be here and she had to allowed make her choices."

"Who is she?"

"That is for her to decide to share," Mira said, with a shrug and she looked at the young woman. "I will not tell her name."

Keith felt unsettled, what he'd picked up about Lady Mira told him that her power of prophecy was linked with Allura, Allura's future, Allura's life. That meant this young woman was linked to Allura - if he believed Mira, which his instincts told him to do. Her eyes were calm, her posture strong, her words sincere. She was scared of the situation in present but not of what she knew of the young woman.

"From what you know of her, you trust her?" Keith said, not really buying it as he looked back at the red head. She was pacing, the braid she'd twisted her red hair lashing around her head like a whip. She looked like a caged tiger rather than any soldier who could handle a fight.

"I do. She was trained by the best."

Keith snorted.

"I wouldn't snort, Captain. She means you," the teenager snapped from behind him.

Keith whipped around and met her hazel eyes. "What?"

"I'm Voltron Force. Well, okay fine, 'a cadet'." She rolled her eyes before continuing. "I've been trained by you for years in martial arts, only reason I could counter move you and dodge you. Thank you by the way." she winked. "Lance taught me to fly, and how to brawl, Pidge taught me science and how to deal with techmagic. Hunk taught me how to improvise and build anything out any hunk of metal there is. And Princess Allura taught me how to never give up, how to attempt to be diplomatic, to be quick on my feet and also to attempt to have patience... which by the way, Captain... I'm running out of. She wants to kill Lance we have get out there."

"Why Lance?" Romelle asked.

_Fleur_ shrugged. "He's important. I don't know why specifically. She seems to hate he's become Arusian from what I can gather."

"Arusian?" Keith said.

"Well, yeah, duh," she sighed. "You don't know? God and Goddess, you don't know this is... he loves Arus, he's a part of Arus in his heart and soul. He'll never leave here, not even when there may seem to be peace. He's considered Arusian in my time."

"Which is, when exactly?"

"What you want the exact math?"

"Yes," Keith said.

"Fine."

"Twenty-two, maybe twenty-three years... I'm kind of confused on my age to honest. It was a week to my sixteenth birthday when I ended up here. Only here is a totally different time of year and all, and well the past so I'm not sure I should think I had my birthday or not," she shrugged.

Keith took a breath and tried not to glare at Romelle and Mira and say you want me to trust a fifteen year old hotheaded little girl? Instead he looked at _Fleur_. "And you think this witch is from when?"

"Around 375 years in the future, I'm estimating, but that's what this thing says," she held up her left wrist. "This is the time travel device her and her minions used. I don't know why they stopped off at my time, or well three of them did anyway. They were ransacking, uh, Princess Allura's old bedroom, going through her diaries. It was strange. I tangled with one, we ended up outside, where the old tombs lead out by the lake. I think he teleported us there, then he hit this red button on this thing and we were here. Studying it, I figured out that if I hit that button again I end up about 375 years in the future, it's their get home ticket."

"A diary? They wanted a diary of Allura's?" Keith said, raising an eyebrow and glancing at the two other women.

"Keith, I think you aren't understanding. Allura's diaries could tell this future soceress details she couldn't get anywhere else. Where Allura would be, where she was going...the bench in the garden. It was luck that stopped them from being killed. If I hadn't sent Sven to get Allura for me?" Romelle paled at the thought and Keith nodded.

"Maybe, maybe. But why try then and then wait until now."

"Maximum damage, who cares, Keith!" _Fleur_ shouted.

Keith stared back at her, she'd been calling him Captain with a strange mix of respect and sarcasm, the Keith however was intimate and pleading, it was a voice someone uses on someone who loves them. He wasn't even sure he liked this kid.

_Oh isn't this interesting. In this room is my uninvited guest from 2023, intriguing, very intriguing indeed. I thought my minions had taken care of you, little girl. They told me they left you for dead._

Keith pulled his blaster, he saw the time traveling teen go into a defensive posture herself, both of them scanning the kitchen area but the voice was in their heads not anywhere else.

"I don't plan to die lying down," the girl spat out.

_Oh, no. No. I wouldn't expect that from you Princess. Especially since I know how you do die - or did die, that will change now of course. Of course everything will change now._

Keith caught the information but he needed more information he needed better information. "Who are you?"

_I am Anna, I'm a descendant from Allura's sweet Aunt Orla. I am a sorceress and a scientist, I hold all the Old and Ancient Arusian ways dear and true. I lead the Arielists and I will end the line before it begins. Which means, I'm afraid Keith I have to murder your second in command tonight... but not before I play with him, play with you... it's so fun to play with prey._

All of Keith's instincts were screaming to kill this woman and kill her fast. Over and done, get her and hers off of Arus. Out of this timeline if they were indeed stepping through time. The footprints they might be leaving behind could be unchangeable, the timelines they were messing with, he looked at the red head in front of him. If she was a daughter of Arus, a Princess... if he could trust Witch Anna but on that he did. He recognized it now the royal tilt of her head when she got determined, the jutting chin, whoever _Fleur_ really was she was related to Allura. Mira's words were truth, didn't change the fact the kid was going to be listening to him.

_You'll find the path clear for you to get to the Ballroom. Coran the sweet advisor his life is hanging in the Balance. He's in terrible pain and agony, reliving the death of his dear friend Alfor, sending away his wife and son. Watching people die and die around him, all without ever seeing the five of you arrive... I like messing with the head like that, I used an ancient old spell one only a true King to Arus' throne could stop. One only a true Arusian King could counteract. I can't wait to watch what happens... as I bide my time before I kill Lance."_

"You won't kill him, you bitch, I won't let you, you won't get near him!" the young Princess yelled. "You here me, I am going to kill you first!"

"Shut up," Keith yelled.

They heard nothing more. "Come on, we have to get to the Ballroom," Keith said but he grabbed the Princess by the arm. "Princess, you follow me, you do what I tell you do, you understand."

Hazel eyes rolled. "Sure thing, fearless leader, though I never would've guess the stick could be even further up your..." she muttered walking ahead of him instead of following him, already disobeying his order.

He cleared his throat and cocked his head when she looked back.

"Oh, you meant, literally behind you like some damsel in distress?"

"I have a weapon."

"I do too," she said.

Keith looked her up and down. "Where?"

She grinned. "Oh, it's here, Cap."

"Behind me," Keith said losing patience which he didn't like. It was a rare person who could push his buttons like this, he thought. He looked at Romelle and Mira. "Mira, between me and Princess _Fleur,_ Romelle take the back and be careful."

All three women nodded.

~~.~~

Lance leaned against a wall and stared up at Coran, held in place by the magical vibrating energy with some spell that a true Arusian King could break. The witch didn't believe he was that King. He... didn't know. He wanted to believe in it, especially when he had Allura in his arms, or was watching her from across room move with regal lioness grace and strength that she'd blush if you told her she had. He believed it sometimes when he was Red Lion, felt her purring vibrate throughout his bones, under his skin, rushing volcanic heat in his veins... the rushing powerful core of Arus pulsing there, heating the planet with it's life.

His eyes opened and Coran's pallor looked more gray, by the second, he watched and he didn't have clue how to hope to break the spell, even if he believed 100% that he could. He felt Sven's eyes, grey and sharp, Lance averted his eyes away from Coran and saw that his friend was right in front of him.

"Pidge feels certain the staff is needed."

"Great, grab the scarecrow and Dorothy and we'll head to the Wicked Witches palace," Lance said.

Sven shook his head at Lance's attempt at humor. "Lance, what aren't you telling me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Knowing what I do, I'm not going to tell Keith like Pidge and Hunk are going to do that he needs to save Coran when he gets here. Also knowing what I do, I feel like you and Allura have secrets that may be best told. And soon."

Lance laughed, nervous and a little crazed. "If you only knew, Sven, really knew..." he leaned his head back. "It's. Coran and I had that fight, the one Romelle witnessed and told you about. The seer stuck up for me, remember. I'm important, I know the heart of the lions..."

"Yes."

"What she didn't say, what I begged her to not say was this crazy belief she has, there is this prophecy... I can't say it with a straight face, Sven. I don't... I'm not you. I'm not Keith. I'm uncomfortable and trapped in formal diplomatic matters, you two they might not be your favorite things but it's a strength of yours. You were meant to love a Princess. Me... I don't know how Allura managed to be my impossible woman...but she is and as crazy as this sounds. There is this old piece of paper that claims I'm a true king of Arus."

He whispered the last sentence, it was the first time he said it aloud to anyone who wasn't Allura, or himself and it never grew easier or lighter. It sounded more absurd rather than less. Sven blinked, one blink but otherwise Sven's face gave away nothing but Lance knew his friend. He saw the processing of what he'd been told going on Sven's mind via his friends eyes. He saw Sven turn and glance at Coran, then at Pidge who was clicking away at his device trying to understand the magic better and then he looked at Lance.

"Yeah," Lance said with a nervous laugh.

Sven's mouth open, Lance braced himself for Sven to inform him that was insane, or for another round of questions about the secrets he and Allura were keeping but Allura rushed into the room, followed by Prince Delos who was lecturing.

"Princess Allura, please stop... oh my lords," the Prince said as he saw Coran in the air.

Allura stopped almost directly under Coran, looking up and tears spilled out of her eyes, streaking make up and she turned toward Lance. "That witch, she said... she said he's in torment," she fell to her knees, before Lance could get his arms around her. He knelt to the floor also and wrapped his arms around her.

_We'll fix this, Baby, I promise_

_You can fix it, she said you could fix it._

Lance felt fear he'd never felt before because letting Allura down would kill him inside, he was sure of it. _Allura, I..._

_I believe, I know, I see it. You can._

In his head her voice sounded tear filled, yet strong and with each word it grew stronger from that quiet place inside of herself she pulled her will of steel from. He felt it all but he couldn't see it, he couldn't know it. Who the hell was he to break a spell? He'd never believed in magic, or telepathy, or anything magic at all until Voltron.

_I don't want to..._

His sentence was cut off by another door bursting open and Keith coming in blaster ready, scanning the room, his eyes fell on Coran and he stilled. "Shit."

"Does that mean all clear, fearless leader?" a sarcastic young voice asked from behind him.

Keith's eyes hardened in a way Lance had only ever seen aimed at him, or Allura when she was really pushin Keith's buttons and turned toward the voice. "Princess, could you attempt some respect."

"Why? You don't trust me?"

"You've lied since day we met."

"You would've too in my place," the voice said and Lance watched _Fleur_ walk into the room, wearing a red and black uniform that held a resemblance to their Voltron uniforms, her red hair in a long braid. Her eyes landed on Coran and she blanched. "No, Coran," she whispered and he watched tears appear, the same tears he'd seen after the bombing.

"Princess?" he heard himself ask in unison with Allura.

"Princess Liona is her name," the witches voice said, from behind them. Keith raised his blaster and fired. Lance didn't need to turn around to know it'd been absorbed by some sort of magic, he and Allura rose to their feet and turned. They were three feet in front of Anna, the Arielist who should be over 300 years in the future.

"Take the spell off of Coran," Lance snapped.

"Only a King can do it. It's how it works. Anyone can cast it but only a King can undo it. It's the beauty of the spell, and not just any king... only the True King. It's usually used on boxes and the like - to test if a true king has risen. But alas I could never unearth the box, in all my diggings and all my time travels. So this will have to do..."

"You twisted bitch!" Lance flinched, hearing Princess Liona's voice, saying what he was thinking out loud, he felt Allura tense against him, and he tightened his hold on her shoulder.

"Princess Liona, you should hold your little tongue. Because little girl do you really think you'll ever get back to own time... I'm going to end your life before your ever supposed to be born... You'll never go down in history of Princess Liona the first Warrior Princess of Arus, the beginning of a new Era of Female enlightenment and strength. It's despicable the way you were raised, unbecoming and wrong. It will end."

"When I kill you, yeah it'll end," Liona said.

Anna laughed. "Let's see what you do with some Gladiators first. Drule Gladiators I think, bigger, stronger, more blood thirsty..." she trailed off yelling ancient words of magic and the ballroom filled with thirty drules all with sharp daggar weapons and Anna disappeared again, laughing.

It was flashes for Lance, he heard Allura rip her skirt so she could move. He saw Prince Delos get killed before he could even raise his unsharpened sword. He saw his own fist punch a Drule in the face. He stole a weapon from a downed Drule, soon after that, and started stabbing and killing them as he went. At some point he and Keith were back to back, fighting in synchronized unison that they'd had since their days at the Academy, Sven, Hunk and Pidge at the outskirts holding their own. Allura working with Romelle and Mira to ensure that the other two woman plus herself stayed alive. He lost sight of Liona until the end.

Until she yelled, "Move!"

He did as she asked, moved to the left as Keith moved to the right, she was between them in a second, then she had two swords in what had been empty hands. They resembled Voltron's blazing sword but instead of crackling with lightning they blazed with red-hot fire. She twisted and turned almost like a graceful dancer with the speed of a gazelle and gutted the last three Drules.

When she finished, she landed in fighting stance, breathing heavily, her swords pointing toward him and Keith. Lance knew in that instant it was the prophecy he'd seen, the one that had been in Alfor's tomb all along. And it'd always been his own daughter.

"That all you got, Bitch!" she shouted.


	60. Chapter 60

_Notes: This chapter was really hard to write. And well I was under the influence of Wine while writing it as well... I'm not really happy with it, but it is what is - Which is part of my writing every day promise to myself. So here it is. Hopefully it doesn't suck and if it does. I'm sorry. _

Chapter Sixty

"That all you got, Bitch!" Liona shouted, locked in her fighting stance with her fire swords at the ready. Her bravado, however couldn't hide her fear from the captivated Allura. She couldn't take her eyes off her daughter. Her child, with Lance, Allura's heart was loud in her ears, her eyes locked Liona who stood trying to look brave, feral and fierce but all Allura saw was a child full of fear.

_Quite a nasty mouth, if the Arusian bloodlines hadn't gotten so contaminated such things would never come out of a Princess' mouth, though I don't count you as a real Princess, Liona. I give Allura's, a true Daughter of Arus, choice of King three hours to save Coran. Then I'll be back, to cut off Lance's head._

Anna's voice intruded into Allura's mind. Reminding her why Liona looked petrified. Lance was at stake and then their was Coran. Allura forced herself to look away from her daughter and she met Lance's own petrified and uncertain eyes. She wanted to tell him to have faith, to believe because there wasn't a doubt in her mind he was the true King of Arus. She'd seen him prove it, she knew he could do it.

"Lady Mira, do you know how Keith can undo the spell?" Pidge asked.

Allura turned toward Pidge, her mouth open but no words came out because Keith spoke first.

"We'll deal with that soon enough, but not yet. First we need to regroup, make sure we are all on the same page, and understand what is going on here. We have more than one person here from the future and two different futures from what I've been told - that sounds like a mess to me that can't end well if we don't play this right. Also we need a plan for when that witch comes back to this room to kill Lance."

"I'm confused about why she wants to kill Lance," Hunk said.

Allura knew, she knew and she didn't know what to do, what to say and she looked at Coran. She saw the pain etched on his face, she knew what Anna was making him re-live and she wanted to kill that witch herself, with her bare hands.

"He's important," Liona said. "In the future he's important, that's all you need to know."

Allura found herself staring at her daughter again, her heart thudding in her ears. Her daughter was covering for what wasn't common knowledge yet, she was covering for her and Lance. Without question, without being asked and Allura didn't like it. She didn't like it at all because it was wrong everything was wrong.

"The spell it is a myth, or it was supposed to be," Nanny cried out. "Coran and I always thought it was. Your father probably disagreed with us, Allura. He disagreed with us on a lot of things," Nanny clutched her hands together. "If, if there is anything about a way to counteract the spell this witch has done, your father always thought it would be underneath the Castle. He meant to dig, further under the catacombs and tombs. He felt there were prophecies and spells to be found there."

"They're are," Liona said. "Spells, prophecies, underneath the tombs. Underneath Alfor's specifically. I don't know if they are about this True King Spell, or not. But they've been found, more are being searched out in my life time."

Allura listened afraid she might run out of heartbeats. She locked eyes with Lance, or rather she tried, his eyes kept flicking back to Liona and Allura couldn't blame him. She was beautiful.

"Stop," Keith yelled. "We need to regroup. Talk things out, think. We need to focus on what we can do."

"Which is what, Keith?" Lance asked. "Nothing. We're trapped here, at that witch's mercy as far as I can tell. We can't help the people she's got trapped in that energy spell, we can't help Coran."

"We don't know that," Keith said.

Lance snorted and he turned his back on Keith, Allura felt from Lance without feeling his thoughts his self-loathing, his insecurity and his lack of faith himself for not being able to help Coran.

"You," Keith barked at Liona. "What do you know about the true king spells?"

Allura eyes fell on her daughter.

Liona looked at Keith and said. "I know you aren't you aren't him."

Pidge, Hunk, and Nanny all gasped, and they all missed that Romelle, Sven, her and Lance didn't. Nanny walked forward and pointed her finger at the young woman. "You say you are a Princess of Arus, and you don't believe Keith is Allura's chosen Prince. I have my doubts about his suitability for Allura but I don't doubt he'd be a good man to rule Arus. So you better have a good explanation young lady."

"It's simple. It doesn't matter who Allura is dating at this current moment, it never has. The Captain isn't the true king of Arus."

"Then who is?" Pidge said.

"I've been told all my life by my parents that... that Lance McClain is the true King," Liona said.

There was no way around it. There it was and Allura sighed. "She's right," she said. "The prophecy is clear. It's in my father's tomb, it names Lance the last true of Arus for the next 500 years. I've read the prophecy, more than once. It's his connection to lions, it's one of the ways it manisfests. You've all seen it. Liona... she too, there is a prophecy about her coming to us from out of her time to aid us. We should trust her," Allura said, catching Keith's gaze as she said her last words.

"You've known this?" Nanny said.

"Yes," Allura said. "Since Coran gave me permission to see the prophecies in father's tomb. The ones father knew upon his death," Allura answered Nanny but she held Keith dark gaze.

Keith jawline flinched minutely, a quick spasm of the muscle that Allura wasn't positive she'd seen or imagined until he averted his gaze away from her own. "This is true?" he asked Liona.

"I don't know about a prophecy, just what I've been told," she said.

Keith then turned towards Mira. "What do you know?"

"That Lance is the True King of Arus. Liona is from the future, and we can trust her."

"And?" Keith asked.

Mira shook her head. "I am unsure what else you are asking, Captain?"

"Coran, do you know how to help Coran?" Lance asked then.

Mira turned toward Lance, Allura felt her heart pound. Mira shook her head. "Only you can answer that, Lance. You're the King."

"Fuck," Lance spat out and he punched the wall he standing next to.

Allura ran then, over to him, unable to keep the space between them any longer, she grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand toward her. His knuckles were bleeding and she sighed. She met his eyes, hazel eyes dark and angry. "You can do this," she said.

"Allura," he shook his head and looked away from her.

"So this why she wants Lance dead?" Hunk said. "He's the true king?"

"Looks like it," Keith said. "So, what we have to do is protect Lance, so he can save Coran. What can you tell me about her magic, Princess Liona?"

"Not much," Liona said.

"That's unacceptable," Keith said. "We need to know what we are fighting against."

"She has science on her side too Keith," Pidge said. "Her teleportation in and out here, that's not magic. That's science, plus what she used to get that garrison bomb in the garden. Science. The time travel itself... I don't know if that's magic or science."

"Science," Liona said. "It's this device." She held up her left wrist, where she wore a black device that looked like a watch. "I stole it off the minion of hers I rode in on. After I killed him."

Allura felt her heart break. Her daughter a killer at fifteen yet war would cause the need, the possibility. Had she killed before? Was it the first time? She looked at Liona trying to judge, as she tried to calm Lance down, who seemed likely to burst out of his own skin from how out of his element he felt.

"I think if I hit the button on it again, I end up 375 or so years in the future. I think it's there get home without going to jail free card," Liona said. "But I'm not going to let her use hers. She's not killing... Lance."

Allura saw Liona's eyes cut to Lance, saw the fear in them, she felt Lance stiffen and squeeze her hand and their eyes met. This was their daughter. Allura couldn't help but wonder if they let her know they knew who she was because she was being so careful not break it to them who she was, in her own way.

"And that other device," Pidge said, walking over to her. "What is it?"

"It's a voltcom."

"Which is?"

Liona sighed. "It uses similar weapons technology of lions, but it reads a persons biometrics and creates the perfect weapon for them. Mine are the swords and well...a sniper rifle. All Voltron Force members have them in my time."

"Interesting," Pidge said.

Keith groaned. "We don't have time for this. The magic, what do you know about handling magic? You knew it was what was stoping our communications."

"It's basic magic 101, it wrecks havoc with any low level communications transmissions, you have to be on a higher transmission and randomize the pattern. I don't really understand it, I just know it. My brother, Al, is way better at understanding this crap than I am."

"Anything else you can tell us?"

"Well most of her science is Haggerium based."

"What?" Pidge, Keith and Hunk all said.

"Haggarium based, it's the element that is by product of Haggar's magic. All magic, everyone who does magic leaves behind a magical byproduct, their own elemental. For instance, my voltcom shows that my elemental magic would be fire based. It wouldn't necessarily be fire but it'd be a element based around fire or from fire. The witch Haggar hers was based on Lightning but mutated by who she was, so not really lightning. She used it in her occult sciences. She knew it was her magic but she also made it an element in her sciences, so it's both magic and scientific. And Anna, her sciences, my voltcom has told me it's all Haggarium based. Which could be a problem. In my time Voltron has dealt with the situation and it's okay, but your Voltron. Now. Haggarium can shut him down cold."

"If Haggar is using this against us, currently wouldn't we know if it shut down Voltron?"

"No," Liona said. "She wasn't using it in it's raw form, nor was she using it in creating her robeats except for magically. She was using it differently than those who used it after her death. It was a problem found after her death. Call this a heads up, Captain."

"You're part of the Voltron Force?" Keith said, Allura didn't like the doubt she sensed from him.

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Since I was born. I'm a Princess of Arus. It's part of the job description."

Allura watched the exchanged, sensing Keith's distrust of Liona and sighed. "Keith, we don't have time for this. You're right. We need to figure out what to do when Anna comes back. She's going to kill Lance."

"What about Coran?" Nanny said.

Allura looked up at her advisor, her guardian, the man who was in so many ways her father. She swallowed over the lump in her throat and she avoided looking Nanny in the eye. "It will be dealt with after we deal with Anna."

"Allura?" Lance said and he squeezed her hand. "I..."

She looked at him and she shook her head. _Don't say it. You will get him out that spell. I know you will. But right now I want to focus on keeping you alive._

_She's beautiful._ Lance said, looking right at her, his eyes wide and Allura felt the awe and the amazement as his eyes went back to Liona as they'd been doing since her arrival. Since Anna had told them her name. Like her, Lance couldn't keep his eyes off their daughter.

Their daughter.

Allura was sure she was shock.

_She is._

"Allura is right," Keith said. "All of you, over here. Lady Mira, Romelle, if you could try to help Nanny calm down. Sven with us?" Keith said.

"What about me?" Liona asked.

Keith sighed and stared her. "With us, I guess we need you," he muttered.

Allura started to walk over toward where the team was gathering but Lance pulled her back. She stopped and looked at him, saw the fear in his eyes as he looked up at Coran. She shook her head, touched his face with her palm. "You will find the way," she whispered to him.

Lance shook his head again but his eyes didn't leave Coran as he let go of her hand, and walked over to the meeting ahead of her. Allura followed him with her eyes and took in a breath. She felt over her head, she wished she could leave the ballroom and go to her father's tomb but they were trapped in the room.

Big as the ballroom was it was prison.

~~.~~

Lance was stuck between two things and his mind couldn't focus on anything else. His daughter. He had a daughter - _He had a daughter_ - was beautiful. She looked like Allura, he thought, though she had McClain red hair and hazel it was was Allura's face, eyes, mouth, her stature, everything else about her was Arusian, graceful and regal. Thankfully, because she was a Princess. It wouldn't do for her to take after him, uncomfortable in formal wear and uncomfortable with titles.

Coran hung above Lance, it didn't matter where Lance moved in the room, Lance couldn't stop his eyes from moving from his daughter to Coran. Now and again he'd lock his gaze with Allura. Reassure himself that this was really happening, the nightmare of it all, it was all real. Allura looked white, shocked, lost and he wondered how much he mirrored her astonishment. Had he blanched that pale, were his eyes that wide, was he constantly staring at Liona and then at Coran.

He knew he was.

Coran. Liona had sealed the deal, with her words about what she'd been told. He had noticed she hadn't known about the prophecy however, she'd looked as surprised as everyone else but him and Mira when Allura brought it up. He didn't know what that meant, if it was about his and Allura's trip to the future; after all they'd brought the prophecy back with them from the future. From the future Anna was from, and he felt responsible. He felt like he and Allura had missed something, that they'd screwed up and brought on this attack. He couldn't stop himself from staring at Coran and thinking that he had to save him. Yet he hadn't clue how. Not one clue how and the only way he knew to find out, was to go to Alfor.

And Alfor was in the tombs and he was trapped here. Waiting to die, unless they could figure out a way to stop it, which made him look at his daughter. She was scared, terrified of the threat to his life. It was what had her shouting out, acting cockier than she really was. It was what her pretending she wasn't afraid when all he could see in her eyes was fear beacuse he recognized the look - he'd seen it in Allura's eyes a million times. It was hidden well, but it was there, she was scared, she felt over her head and he and Allura knew.

Did they let her know? Hey we know who we are, Liona, we know we will be your parents? It was crazy, he couldn't wrap his head around it. He and Allura hadn't been together yet, they hadn't made love yet. They weren't there yet, Allura wasn't ready.

He closed his eyes. Keith was ordering them to gather, to meet, to figure out if they had anyway of protecting themselves against a woman who had magic and technology ahead of their time.

They were screwed Lance thought, walking over head of Allura, unable to look her in the eyes any longer. He would let her down, what if he couldn't save Coran. She was so sure he could. And what if he couldn't? He walked over to the meeting, his heartbeat in his ears, his heart feeling like it was in his mouth, shaking. His eyes falling back on Liona and thinking how the hell did he help create something so beautiful?


	61. Chapter 61

**Notes:** Banjo: Thank you for the feedback, especially how all the little foreshadowing notes worked out so well! I was wondering on that :-) It was great to hear. Everyone else, this chapter is shorter than usual, and also sorry for the wait.

Chapter Sixty-one

The wait was never-ending, at least it felt it, Lance could see the impatience screaming off of Allura. Every movement she made of her arms, her face, her legs - which was usually a step in his direction. She was stationed by the kitchen door, with Romelle and Mira, behind them was Nanny. Being offered the only protection they could give her. It wasn't enough. Sven was there too, in front of the women, a Drule weapon in his hand, he looked patient but Lance guessed he was anything but. Lance's eyes kept falling on the Drule weapons, they all had them. Lance was amazed Anna had made them disappear like she made them appear with the Drules in the first place... But then again the sorceress thought she had all the cards.

She did have all the cards.

He and Keith were stationed under Coran. To protect Coran, it was too late to protect Coran, Lance thought his eyes looking up at the man. They hadn't been seeing eye to eye at all lately. Every time they spoke in the past few weeks it'd turned into an argument, into a challenge of some sort from him to Coran, or Coran to him. Lance wondered if Coran knew the truth because he knew Allura so well... If he sensed it. He wondered how much Coran picked up from Tarus and Mira's words about him to Coran. Coran knew things about Arus, it's legends, it's prophecies no one else did, more than Allura even. He was the only one in the room who could possibly guide Lance in how to save him... Lance clenched his jaw and his fists.

"This is a mistake," Liona said, for the fifth time.

Lance held his tongue, his eyes found Allura's. Allura was biting her lower lip to stop herself from speaking too. Neither of them knew what to do, or what to say. They were so afraid what they knew, how much they knew, and Liona was fighting for him but she was tripping over her words too and it was one of the reasons she wasn't winning any of her fights against Keith.

"You're to use my blaster and help Pidge and Hunk with cover fire for the rest of us."

"Cover fire is pointless. You need me in the thick of fight, with my voltcom, I be more of a help down there," she said.

"I gave you, your orders, Cadet."

Lance moved his eyes to his daughter, she was glaring at Keith but then her eyes moved to him. She caught his gaze and he saw pure fear flicker there for a briefest of seconds. Then she was looking at Keith again, her chin out like Allura when Allura was at her most defiant. "You're wrong. You can apologize later, when I save your ass."

Lance could feel Keith stiffen, his jaw clench, the urge to knock sense into the teenager standing at the top of the stairs. Liona knew how to push Keith's buttons, she was a professional at it - just like him - he wasn't sure if he was proud or worried. It seemed to be her default fall to position for deflecting her fear about his life being in danger. Her life too, her brothers, her entire family. He felt fear from Allura from her side of the ballroom, confusion, anxiety and worry for Liona. He didn't need her thoughts to know what was worrying her.

"Follow my orders," Keith spat out.

"I'll do what is needed," Liona shouted back.

Keith looked about ready to shout something else when Mira spoke.

"Keith, let her follow her own path."

Lance moved his eyes to her, so did Keith and Allura stepped closer to the seer. "What?" Keith spat out, staring at Mira. "You keep doing this, Mira?"

"Keith, there are things you don't know, that aren't my place to tell you. But understand, Princess Liona, has a destiny, she is here to achieve it. You may want to protect her, you may want to protect all of us from her... whatever your motives are. But you have to let her follow her own path and instincts. If we stop her from doing what she has to do..." Mira shrugged. "It could be catastrophic."

"Lance," Allura gasped.

"I don't know," Mira whispered. "I'm sorry, Allura. I wish I knew more."

Keith sighed. "You don't know, Mira. You keep saying that you being here stopped you from seeing this...so why do you feel so sure of her Destiny?"

"Because, I know things about her that are fixed, that happen in her own time...and they haven't happened yet." Mira said.

Lance wondered at that, because how would they get her back to her own time, how would that be possible? She had a device, put to the future Anna was from, the future he and Allura had been too... He sighed.

"I don't know her," Keith muttered.

"You believe in what I am, do you not, Keith?" Mira asked.

Lance looked between them, knowing that Keith did believe instincts, in portents. He believed in things that were instinctual the most out of the five of them, Sven was second. Lance always felt he was the most cynical, how was it he was supposed to be a King, how was it he could know the Lions and was meant to speak to a Planet that wasn't even one of his birth? He held his breath, waiting for Keith agree with Mira, watched Keith hold Mira's gaze for a long, long time and then he heard Allura's small gasp of, "Oh."

Lance had to smile, Allura had remembered who Keith married in the future, he knew Mira had no clue who she married. He liked that protection that Seers had against their own personal futures. A part of him hated knowing as much as he did, couldn't wait until he ran out of information. Of course it wouldn't happen for a while, he realized, wryly. That is if he survived the night.

"I do," Keith said, finally after a full minute of staring.

"Then trust in Liona."

"Good, can I come down the stairs now?"

"No," Keith said, remaining stubborn. "Do what you need to do during the battle...if you have to leave your position, fine."

Liona snorted.

A part of Lance wanted to try to tell Liona, Allura wanted to leave her post as well, a part of Lance wanted to shout out for both of them to leave their posts and join him under Coran. He'd be closer to them both, the two he wanted to protect the most, and he'd feel the most protected. Under the two people who wanted to protect him the most. Then there was Coran, he was distracted by Coran, above him, his expression one of emotional torture and pain, it was breaking Lance's heart and he knew it was killing Allura. And he saw Liona, looking at Coran too, her eyes bright and blinking and lost. He had a voice in his head, Lia's he thinks, telling him, "Yes, it was your daughter Liona who was the first to use the name Coran..."

Liona was close to Coran. Allura loved him as much she loved her father, as a father though she'd never said it out loud publicly. Lance knew, he'd heard it, though he couldn't remember now if it'd been in his head or with his ears. He wanted to yank Coran down, from where he was in the air and have that be all he needed to do. He was tempted to try it, but he wasn't stupid, nothing was that easy. Fighting for his life, he got that, he could do that, they did that almost daily in the fight with doom. He was a soldier, a pilot it was what he did, who he was...but breaking a curse, a spell...saving Coran. He was out of league, he had no clue, and he had no idea how to start or where to start.

The wait was forever, it was tension, it was too much time to feel the fear of that he was going to fail Allura, and his daughter when it came to saving Coran. It was seeing Allura and Liona fear that the wouldn't be saved, it was seeing Keith tense, angry and distrusting and knowing it wasn't only about Liona a stranger from the future, a Princess from the future - was about Lance being the target, it was about how Liona was a Princess, it was about Allura and him. Keith had questions, Keith had instincts but he was trying to stay in the moment right now and focus on the now... but without anything to fight against, Keith kept looking over at Allura and Lance knew he saw Allura's eyes either in one of three places, him, Coran or Liona. If Keith was glancing over at him, he was seeing the same thing, Allura, Coran or Liona.

Of course everyone in the room was looking at Coran, and possibly Liona, she was a time traveller, Coran was in a spell, Nanny's bouts of loud tears and hysterics weren't needed as a reminder of it.

If the wait felt like three centuries rather than hours, the next ten minutes were like ten blinks. Five horrifying blinks. Anna came in laughing, she froze Lance in place, her voice in his head.

_You get to watch._

Lance could only move his eyes. He couldn't see everything, anymore, he couldn't see Allura, or Liona. Keith was fighting a woman, with a staff, he saw Sven in the background, finding a man, who had sword, not a staff.

_Cedric there fighting that man, other there, he's my Assassin, only one of my minions who doesn't use my techmagic staffs, though I wish he would. Look how effective they are, watch as one takes down your girlfriend..._

Anna moved Lance, rotated him by magic, a twist of her wrist. He watched as Allura was facing with a man twice her size, dodging the magic coming at her.

_She can dodge only so long, I'm sure..._

"Fuck yourself," Lance said, and realized he could speak.

_ So crass, never should be on the throne._

Allura lost her Drule blaster, she was pushed against the wall, Lance felt his heart rate fall to the pit of his stomach as it twisted but then there was a flash of red hair from the corner of his eye. Liona was in front of Allura, and something blue blasted from her voltcom and the staff in the man's hand short circuited.

_What? What? No!_

Lance laughed. As Liona and Allura, worked together and knocked the man unconscious when he was confused by his lack of weapon. Turned out he wasn't much of a fighter. With the man down, Liona, took care of the minions fighting Romelle, Mira and Keith, took out their staffs and instantly the fight turned against Anna's minions.

"Crapass fighters, aren't they?"

Anna growled. She flicked her wrist again. Lance felt his stomach drop again as Keith, Allura, Mira, Sven and everyone but Liona when frozen like he was.

"Cedric," she yelled. The man fighting Sven, stopped short, mid motion about to cut off Sven's head since Sven was frozen.

"Yes, MiLady Anna?" he asked.

"Finished what you claimed you already done with the red head."

Liona's fire swords blazed to life, she faced off with the man. Lance could barely see the fight, he could only hear his heartbeat. Cedric kept hitting her and aiming on her left side. Statements from Anna, about thinking Liona had been left for dead already coming back to him, Liona stumbling in her fighting for the first time since he'd seen her in action. She was falling, she was sweating, she was gasping when he hit her side, she was losing focus, her swords cut out on her more than once. He felt Allura in his head, matching his fear, his worry. Liona was down, he heard metal, suddenly a short sword was in his line of sight then against his throat. Yet, he didn't care, he just wanted Liona to get back up.

"Cedric, this time make sure she is..."

A fire sword through Cedric's heart cut off Anna's sentence, and his body fell forward onto the ground with a thump. Liona stood there, both swords blazing in her hands. "Your turn!"

Lance felt the sword cut the skin, pressing against his adam's apple. "You won't get here in time, little girl..."

"This will," Liona said and before Lance really saw it, and the same must have happened to Anna, the sword in Liona's right hand became a gun and she lifted her arm up and out and fired.

Lance felt a jolt, his ability to move was back and the first thing he did was run for Liona because she was falling. He sprung the distance and caught her just before her head was about to hit the hard marble flooring of the ballroom.

"Daddy?" she whispered before passing out.


	62. Prt 4 Liona, Daughter Out of Time Chp 62

Part Four Liona, Daughter Out of Time

Chapter Sixty-two

The Castle was in chaos. Anna's death had broken the spells one everyone in the ballroom with the exception of Coran, and everyone outside of the ballroom trapped within the electricity. However, there were still many wounded, and those who had fallen from helping them were still feeling weak. No one knew what had happened, or what was going on currently. And with Coran no where to be seen, Keith had Hunk and Pidge not allowing anyway into the ballroom until they could find a way to move him. It meant the staff of the Castle kept seeking out Allura.

Allura wasn't leaving med tech, Allura wasn't about to answer any questions, or give any orders. She wanted her staff to be independent and do their jobs without her having to coddle them. Lance had picked up Liona as soon as he finished ascertaining her injuries, as soon as Allura had felt her thready pulse under her fingers and screamed inside his head. They'd run to the hospital wing, they'd hurried and now the young doctor Gorma was a mentor too was operatiing - and it made them both doubly nervous. But Gorma was shaky, they'd had him summoned but Gorma had decided that it was best Holden do the operation because his limbs were still weak and shaky from the electric spell that he'd fallen victim too trying to save a life outside of the ballroom. He told them that Holden was a gifted, talented doctor and surgeon, seeing their fear for the young woman they'd brought it.

Allura had shouted that she was a member of the royal family of Arus and was to be treated as such, she was informing all the nurses and staff that only she and Lance were to be informed on Liona's status.

"Princess," another staff member said. "I need to know what we should be telling all the delegates about the attack?"

Allura turned on him. "Do I look like I have information! I've been here since the spells were lifted. Find Captain Kogane, he'll have more information than me and do your job from there."

She knew she was shouting, she knew she sounded rude, she knew she holding Lance's hand, and she'd had her head buried into his chest when the man had walked up to her. All these things were wrong to do in public, were wrong to do at time such as this but she couldn't care.

All she think about was the beautiful, defiant, stubborn and brave teenager in the operating room. Who'd been walking the Castle wounded, pretending to be a maid, waiting for Anna to make her move so she could save her father. Not knowing how to handle the situation of time travel, fearing what she could and couldn't share. Something Allura knew all too well, she sighed and turned back to Lance, buried her face back into his chest, her ear against his heart. It's beat was strong, too fast because he was afraid but it assured her he was alive. Anna hadn't cut off his head, he was with her, holding her. Alive. She wrapped her free arm around his waist and held on.

"But..." the staff member stammered.

"You heard her," Lance barked. "Captain Kogane, will tell you what to do."

"Uh, yes, yes, Commander," the staff member said and walked away, shaking his head at his fellow co-workers, who looked ready to walk up to Allura as well. "I suggest we leave the princess along and take all our requests to Captain Kogane."

"But that is not the protocol, and where is Coran?" someone asked.

"Captain Kogane," he said. "It's what she told the people before me, and me, we all should just go find him," he said. "Come one, he can help us find out what has happened and where Coran is."

"Coran's not the one here..." someone started to ask.

"No, no, I saw who they brought it, Commander McClain was carrying the new maid, the teenager, with the red hair."

Allura shivered as she thought about both Coran and Liona, both of them fighting and only one of them getting help. Because they only knew how to help one of them. She felt Lance's fear spike at the mention of Coran, the strong bent of insecurity within him rise up, something he hid so well from the average eye. Something she had never known about before they'd gotten closer but now knew was a piece of him that was always right there, right under the cockiness.

"How long is this going to take?" Lance muttered, his arm wrapping around her, pulling her in tighter. "Feels like forever already, we've probably not been here an hour."

Allura didn't answer, she knew he wasn't expecting on, she felt more impatient then he did. She was sure of it, she wanted to run into the room, hurrying them up by peeking over their shoulders, but she knew that wouldn't be what was best for Liona. It was surreal, completely surreal and she shook her head. "We, we, we've never even had sex yet... I the second I realized who she was, I loved her so fiercely. Then more and more, watching her act so bravely when she was terrified."

"I knew there was something off about her, from the second I met her. Familiar too, but I trusted her. Keith felt it too. I liked her too, couldn't pinpoint why though cause I was sure she was lying, but not a threat. I get it now, and I...she's gorgeous, just like you."

Allura looked up, catching his eye. "She sounds just like you, especially when you're hiding your fear."

Lance shrugged. "She sure knew how to push Keith's buttons."

Allura sighed. "She has to be okay, she can't... How do we get her home? What do we do? Say?"

Lance shook his head and pulled Allura closer, running his hand down her back. He buried his nose into her hair, inhaled hoping the lavender-like scent might calm him down.

"Allura," Keith's voice was loud against her ears, harsh, and more than a bit cold. Lance's arms loosened but he didn't let go, she pulled her ear away from his heartbeat but found she couldn't go too far. She couldn't, she stood straighter, her hand still tightly held in one of Lance's, and met Keith's dark eyes.

"Yes?" she asked.

Keith looked at the two of them, she watched as his back went straighter, his muscles going rigid. "You're staff is worried, they don't seem to know what to do."

"Then give them some orders," Allura said. "I'm not leaving here until I know Princess Liona is stable."

Keith looked between them both and he nodded. "How bad were her injuries? You took off without a making a report, Lance."

Allura felt Lance stiffen, but when he spoke his voice was even. "In case you didn't pick up on it, Keith. Anna made a mention on how she thought Liona had been left for dead already. I noticed during her fight with Anna's assassin - which that guy was - that he was focusing on her left side. He'd reopened a wound that Liona was treating herself and was probably already in bad shape. It's bad, he also pounded her to the ground, I'm pretty sure you noticed that. I think it's pure Arusian stubbornness that made her stay upright at all."

_McClain you mean._

_No, I meant what she got from you. Lance said in her head and she felt the wink he'd have given if he wasn't looking at Keith._

"She's in surgery?" Keith asked, looking a bit pale about what Lance had said.

"Yes. Gorma's got this surgeon he's mentoring, says he's good," Lance said. "Gorma feels too shaky to be operating, so he's letting his staff do the hard work for once."

Keith nodded. "I had heard that. Okay, I'll handle your staff, Princess. I'm keeping the news about Coran secret for now, but I don't know how long I can keep it quiet. Space Marshal Graham and his men are helping us weed out any of her minions. Seems like they can't get any their weapons to work, I'm just unsure about what to do about prisoners from the future? Graham doesn't know yet. Lance I want you there when we explain it. And we have to discuss Coran."

Allura felt Lance's spine go ramrod straight, he was now standing as stiff and straight as Keith, putting him at his full height and he waved off pure unadulterated fear. "Yeah, okay. But, I'm not leaving here until Liona's out of surgery at the least, Keith."

Keith frowned. "Yeah, okay..." he nodded and turned around.

Allura felt awful, she felt awful and she knew she could go after him, offer him something...But what? It would be misleading to offer him something right now because it would give him hope. And their was no hope for them, not as anything but friends and she couldn't leave Liona. She couldn't it wasn't about no wanting to leave her, she couldn't leave her daughter. Even if Liona never found out Lance and her knew who she was, they had to be there for her. Especially after everything she had done, all she had been through.

Someday Allura would make things up to Keith, she'd find a way to make things better between them. To find the friendship they'd had again, that place where they were on the same wavelength and saw things in the same happy, hopeful and idealist way. Where they had the same noble views and thoughts on how to help her planet, he was her Captain, he was her planet's Hero. These things were always true. She did love him, she always would.

"If you think you should go talk to him..." Lance started.

"No. I can't...it'd lead him on. I do hope he's not thinking the worst of us, though."

"Us, no. Me. Yes," Lance said, then he sighed, he looked toward the doors they'd taken Liona through. "I want burst through there, find her, hold her hand or something."

Allura found herself smiling sadly. "Me too."

"Allura?" Lance said, his voice low, serious and sounding like he wished it wasn't.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I, I'm afraid I won't be able to save Coran. This isn't like with the lions. I mean I know Red, and I've flown Blue and Black a time or two and heard them in my head too. I..."

Allura shook her head back and forth, as she uttered the word, "No," she touched his face with the tips of her fingers and stared into his eyes. Hazel eyes, green from worry, and fear like he'd never felt before. Fear for a daughter, their daughter, they hadn't even conceived and fear of letting her down and letting Coran down.

"She loves him too, did you see her staring at him, forcing herself not to cry?" He whispered.

Allura nodded, she had. "She was the first to name a child Coran, I think it was Lia who told us... when we reacted to their father being King Coran."

Lance nodded. "I..."

"You will save him." Allura lifted up on her toes and kissed him lightly on his mouth.

"Whoa," Pidge's voice surprised them. They broke apart, barely, much like they had when Keith had turned up. Allura found she couldn't let go of Lance, she'd watched someone hold a knife to his throat and draw blood, threaten to cut off his head. She couldn't let go of him, she couldn't leave his side, she wanted to climb into his skin if she was honest. She needed to feel his heat, his pulse, his worry and his fear to remind herself he hadn't died.

"Hey," Lance said to Pidge.

"Uh, yeah, um..." Pidge stammered. "I came up to see if I could get Liona's voltcom? I wanted to get a look at it, from the seven minions we rounded up, I have those time travel devices to look at but I wanted to look at that weapon?"

"I don't see why not," Lance said. "Kind of curious about it myself."

Allura nodded, she was too. They hadn't had them in the future they'd gone too, the system seem to be on that was worth having so it was odd to her her daughter from a closer future had something the further future hadn't had. Was it a good thing? Bad? Was it their actions? She glanced at Lance as the questions rushed her. "I don't..."

Lance held her gaze. "You know, what Pidge, yeah, maybe not."

Pidge looked between them. "Why?"

Lance sighed. "I was thinking it wouldn't hurt, but it's future tech, and I... I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't mess with it?"

"Keith ordered me to mess with the time travel devices to try to find a way to send her home. I mean, otherwise there is no place to start."

Lance and Allura sighed in unison.

"It's her weapon, how about we wait until she she's stable and ask," Allura finally said.

Pidge nodded. "Sounds good to me. I'm sure she's fine, she's Voltron Force of the future, means she's a fighter, right?"

Lance and Allura nodded.

"Okay, I have to get back down there, it's still chaotic."

Allura turned back to Lance the second Pidge turned his back and touched his lips so he wouldn't say anything, or think anything else at her, or try to keep the subject changed.

Lifting back up onto her toes, she kissed him lightly again, smiled sadly as she caressed his cheek with her finger tips. _You will save, Coran, I know this. I know you don't know this. But we will find the way, we will figure out what to do to unlock what it is you need to know. Maybe you need to fly Red, maybe you need to speak with Father. There are things we can do, places to start. Like Pidge starting with the time travel devices to hope to help get Liona home. But most of all I know you will save, Coran, because you won't give up on trying because it's not in your nature to leave anyone unsaved. I have never seen any of you turn your back on someone needing saving, unless external elements made it impossible and then you all carry the guilt like a cloud. You will save him and I will help you. I promise._

_Allura, you're impossible, God, it's why I love you. What if we don't find an answer. What if Red and your father are too cryptic, what if nothing ever clicks like it did in the future, or when Coran challenged me to know his Lion, when before we never knew he even flew one. I don't know to be a King, I don't know how to have intuition, I don't even know what it is when I am having it. It just is, Allura. I don't want to let you down..._

_How can you let me down if your so worried about letting me down...trust me I feel that, you can't let me down. We'll do this, okay?_

Lance closed his eyes, he tightened his hand that had fallen to her hip and he kissed her lightly, Allura's eyes fluttered closed and she felt a small dose of peace, even as a large piece of her was in the operating room with Liona, and she was scared for Coran. There was some solace. She went back down onto her full foot, then moved her head back against his chest, to hear his heartbeat, she shuddered again at the thought she almost lost him.

"I need to thank her," she whispered.

"For?"

"She saved you," she whispered.

"She saved all of us," Lance said.

~~.~~

Keith readied himself for a million questions, as he led Graham into the ballroom. He noticed that Mira was in the room with Tarus, he frowned, he'd been strict with his orders no one but the team in the room, yet there was Mira, which he somewhat understood, she already knew and the other seer in the room. He sighed. Graham walked closer to Coran, he walked around him, his expression becoming a mixture of compassion and anger.

"How do you undo this spell?"

Here it was the craziest of the reports thus far he was to give to a superior, at least so far. He was hoping to skip over Liona, completely. "Well, sir, the woman from the future said it's a King's spell, it's one anyone can cast, but only a True King of Arus can break. And um, according to prophecy, that is known but had been kept from me until now, Lance is the true King of Arus. It's apparently on a scroll in the tomb of Alfor, I tried to go get it show you but the drawer wouldn't open. Princess Allura is the only one who can acquire it for us."

"It is true, nonetheless," Tarus said, crossing the room. "Space Marshall Graham, I had hoped to meet you under much better circumstances on this visit of yours to Arus. I am Tarus, Elder Seer to the Princess. I am afraid this battle was not a fixed point in time, so my seeing of it was not in time to warn the Princess. Though there was a few points involved within that were fixed, that ensured it was a battle won."

"I'm afraid, I do not understand," Graham said.

"I mean Princess Liona, of course."

Keith sighed.

"Who?" Graham looked at Keith.

Tarus smiled. "Ah, I see, the Captain was hoping to not have to explain her. Very well, I'll try to keep this simple. Princess Liona, a daughter of Arus, a Princess of Arus, was always meant to come to the past from the future at this time. There was always to be a danger at this time to the Voltron Force and they'd need her, and the knowledge of her time to solve the problem. End the danger, if you will. It is how things turned out, exactly, wouldn't you say, Captain Kogane."

"You could say that," Keith allowed, though he felt it was a major over simplification.

"Yes," Tarus nodded. "However, the danger was never fixed. Therefore, I never knew what the battle would be, or when it would be. Knowing from Mira, that Liona was here, I kept my mind open, I meditated but I am afraid the possibilities as they sometimes do didn't narrow down until right before the attack came, leaving me no time to warn Princess Allura or the Voltron Force."

Keith frowned, there are to be things he could have told them in his seeings. Especially with the earlier attack on Lance and Allura in the garden, weeks before the ball. He and Tarus were going to have to have a talk about what the Seer did and did not share. Some clearer definitions on what needed to be shared and what didn't needed to be made.

Graham nodded. "I must say, all this seeing and spelling is hard for me wrap my mind around. I know it is all fact and true. Been in too many Drule battles myself not to know the truth of it. But as a man from Earth where we rely on our own hands, eyes and the present only... it's harder to take."

"Earthlings, have intuitions, dreams, they have their own ways knowing the future and knowing when things feel wrong," Mira interjected, her eyes fell on Keith.

Keith gave her a slight nod, acknowledging he agreed with her, but Graham wasn't one of the humans from Earth who believed in what he couldn't see, until he had enough proof he couldn't deny it any longer.

Graham nodded. "Yes, yes, I do have some gut feelings from time to time, myself, Seer?"

"Mira,"

"Explain to me the plight of Advisor Coran, again?" Graham said, turning to Keith.

"Anna performed a spell on him, that has him relieving his worst moments of the war with Doom. The first attacks, the death of King Alfor, losing his family," Keith stopped, trying to push the idea out of his mind as soon as he said it. He didn't want to think about the loop Coran was stuck in. "When she dead all the spells she had cast broke, except this one because as she said after performing it, only the True King of Arus can. And according to her, and Allura comfirmed it, as well as Seer Mira, Lance is the current True King of Arus."

"McClain?" Graham said. "Lance McClain is a King, of this planet?"

"Arus chose him, as he chose Arus," Mira said.

Graham turned and looked at her. "Excuse me?"

"When the five of you landed here, you found the lions, the lions bonded you the five of you. With Lance it was different, he bonded deeper, faster with Red then the rest of you with your lions. You all must have sensed it even if you didn't acknowledge it. All of you felt at home here easily, but the rest of you missed your homes. Lance didn't..." Mira trailed off. "Arus gave Lance a peace no other place had ever given him. I'm sure you sensed that, or even had a conversation or two with him about it."

Keith nodded, his gaze locked with Mira's as she continued speaking, something about her knowledge of Lance bothering him in the back of his mind, but he let it go for now. There was a more important concern. "Mira, Tarus, we need to know what to do about Coran? How, where does Lance start?"

Graham cleared his throat. "Um, where is he? Shouldn't he be here?"

Keith sighed. "I sent Sven, to get him, Sir. But if Princess Liona is not out of surgery yet, or not stable, he may not come. He and Allura, seem... attached."

"Attached?"

Keith took a breathe. "Liona is a Princess of Arus, Allura will feel responsible for her because of that, they are related in some way because of that. Allura has very little family, she clings to what does have. Lance was Anna's target. We think the terrorist group she was head of in the future hated that he was the 'King of Arus,'" Keith couldn't help the air quotes, the idea was so crazy in his head. Lance a King, it made no sense. None at all. "Someone who wasn't Arusian, someone who wasn't of royal blood. She planned to behead him, Liona saved his life."

"This Liona, the Princess from the future?"

Keith nodded. "She was more than a Princess. She was a cadet, a Voltron Force Cadet, sir, she said Lance and I were training her."

Graham took in the information, he looked up at Coran. "So, Lance feels beholden and the Princess feels obligated. I suppose, all of you do to a point, yes?"

Keith nodded, though he wasn't sure what he felt about Liona at all. She'd been so familiar, from the first. His instincts whirring to not trust her but to trust her. Then they were all in danger and she had that uniform, the voltcom - as she called it - and she kept purposely pushing his buttons. He could guess why, but that she knew his buttons so well, could push them so easily, it bothered him. She was a teenager, a kid, she was a Princess. She shouldn't know how to kill, she shouldn't be able to kill as easily as she did but she did it and she did it all for the right reasons.

Liona unsettled him. Lance and Allura's reactions to her, unsettled him. Everything unsettled him. What had unsettled him the most was his girlfriend, ensconced in Lance's arms, pulling strength from Lance's touch as she worried about a Princess from the near future. It was more of the same really. Finding Allura in Lance's bed, dressed but in another man's bed, because she'd run to him upset. Finding her talking to Lance in the recreation room, soft and low. Turning to her when she's next to him, and knowing, just knowing she's looking across the room speaking telepathically to Lance. Had he already lost her? Or was it just a matter of time?

"Keith?" Mira's hand was on his shoulder.

He turned his head, looked into warm dark eyes and smiled. "Sorry, I was thinking."

"That can be dangerous, don't do it for long without supervision. Might get lost in your head, and then where would Arus be without their Hero?"

Keith shook his head. "What did I miss?" he asked.

"Tarus is telling Graham where he believes their might be some scrolls, hidden under the catacombs under the Castle that could help with the King's Spell. Want me to catch you up?"

"Yes, please," Keith asked, feeling chagrinned. It was unlike him to let his personal feelings take over his mind while on duty, while doing his job. What was wrong with him? He breathed in and held the breath for a second, while he focused on what Mira was telling him about what Tarus believed about hidden caves under the catacombs. Alfor had planned to start excavating them right before Arus was first attacked by Zarkon, He listened to what both King Alfor and Tarus believed about the caves, and why they believed them.

"Alfor wanted to be ready for when the King arrived," Mira said.

"Wait, what? He was expecting him?"

Mira stopped, then she sighed. "King Alfor, had the prophecy that names Lance, Keith. He knew that the five of you would arrive on Arus to bring life once more to Voltron. He knew you would be the Hero to the Arusian people and he knew Lance would the True King, the last one for the next 500 years from the moment he first accepts the role."

"When will that be?" Keith asked.

"An act like breaking the spell cast on Coran, is an acceptance."

Keith stopped walking after Graham and Tarus, he grabbed Mira's arm. "You believe this? That? You believe he can do this?"

Mira looked up at him, sincerity glowing in her eyes with a hint of sadness that Keith couldn't quite read but feared was for him. "I've seen it, Keith."

"Him break the spell?"

"No. That would be too easy. I must be there when he does it. Tarus too. Or we could simply tell him how," she laughed. "Seers are meant to be instruction manuals."

"Then what have you seen?"

"Lance as King. It's quite a thing to behold, someday you will see and you know how right it is."

Keith shook his head. "Feels bizarre to me."

"Probably about as bizarre to you that you are the Hero," Mira laughed.

Keith frowned, the weight that put on his shoulders bothered him. So many people, with large eyes, looking up at him to keep hope alive. He'd die trying, he'd do it but knowing that their scrolls and people calling him the Hero. It was a lot for a man to handle.

"I suppose it does," Keith said.

"But you've accepted it, Lance will too. Now you better catch up with the Space Marshal and Tarus."

Keith gave her a thankful smile, took her hand on an impulse and kissed it. "Thank you, Lady Mira," he said before walking off to catch up with the other two, thinking he really didn't want to leave Graham alone with the seer for too long.


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter Sixty-three

Liona woke up with a rush of a adrenaline, her mind thinking swords. But nothing happened but a rush of pain as she tried to sit up. A familiar hand touched her arm softly. "Shh, Liona, it's okay, you're safe."

Liona took a breathe. She turned and blinked, the woman she was staring at was and wasn't her mother. She had to remind herself of that, for one thing she was too young to be Liona's mother. She was only four years older than Liona in this world and in some ways Liona felt like she was older than her. She'd been fighting longer at fifteen than her mother at this point her life had been. It was an odd disconcerting feeling that Liona didn't think she'd ever stop thinking, or getting over. Seeing her mother with such wide innocent eyes, looking sad and guilty as she stood between Uncle Keith and her father.

Liona was learning things she'd never known. She'd stopped Anna from getting the diary, she held it herself and hadn't been able to stop herself from reading it. Finding out that her mother was dating Uncle Keith, when she fell in with her father. It'd happened on a moon, they were stuck there alone, for two weeks, when they fell over a cliff together and Uncle Sven and Aunt Romelle couldn't find them, and Red Lion wouldn't fly for Sven. They'd been friends before but something happened while they were surviving, stuck in some cave and they'd falling in love, or started to fall in love.

Only...Liona wasn't so sure the diary was right. It was strange, their were pages and pages of her mother confused, wondering why she was feeling things for Lance that had been once felt for Keith alone. But she still felt love for Keith, but Lance made her feel things no one else ever had... pages and pages of trying to talk herself out of it, because she'd made promises to Keith.

But here, now, she saw her mother and Lance in the gardens, all the time, alone, talking, whispering, keeping secrets, holding hands, kissing - because she was spying. She flipped and flipped through the pages of the diary and they didn't kiss until the Ball. Their first kiss was the night of the Ball. Allura upset about the Princes', upset at Keith going along with it, upset at herself for letting him talk her into it and wishing she'd listened to Lance. She'd run off and Lance had followed and they'd kissed. That must've been why Anna chose the Ball, she found out the facts she needed without the diary. Liona hadn't changed anything by stopping them, by accidentally coming here, she hadn't stopped it.

She turned away from Allura, the young woman who didn't hold years of her mother's wisdom, who hadn't kissed her scrapped knees, who didn't yell at her for being reckless. Who had never told her she'd dated Uncle Keith. Liona closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing, laughing inside for a minute when she realized she was using Uncle Keith's technique of calming her mind.

"Do you need anything?"

Liona looked at her right forearm. "Where is my voltcom?"

"It's right here," Allura said, pulling open a drawer in the nightstand she sat next too. "Do you want it on?" Allura asked, holding it out and then gasping when it sensed Liona and snapped around her on its own.

Liona felt better immediately, more secure, she was armed. She looked at her left wrist, the time travel device was still on her wrist. "They didn't take this off?"

"They couldn't. We've found only the person wearing it can take it off, unless they are dead, then it can be removed. I'm assuming that's how you got it?"

Liona nodded, she tried to sit up more.

"Be careful, you have stitches in your side. The wound wasn't too bad, just reopened but you were hit rather hard in that last fight, you had internal bleeding, some cracked ribs."

Liona nodded. "I've had cracked ribs before, feels familiar."

Allura sighed. "The war in your time..."

"Lotor, and well...things..." Liona tells her, thinking it's enough. It's more than enough. She doesn't want to lie, but her instincts tell her not to tell too much, not give out new information, at least not if she can help it she thinks thinking of her voltcom.

"So you fight?" Allura said, her eyes taking in the bandages, and wires hooking Liona up to a heart monitor.

Liona knew the tone. It came up about once every three months, they alternated on which of one of was upset about making their children warriors. They made the mutual decision, they kept with their mutual decision, but they both hate it and every three months one of them gets over protective and ridiculous and the other one has to get them back off.

Liona doesn't find strange at all this younger, sweeter, version of her mother is staring at her and wondering how a teenager has been allowed to become a warrior.

"I want to, I want to fight for Arus. Our people are really brave, they fight to keep what they have rebuilt over the years, for old and new traditions they have implemented. They fight to help the King and Queen, so I fight too because of them, for my parents and for the planet," Liona said, feeling her cheeks flush because she'd never said out loud before to anyone. Not her parents, not even to Al, though he knew. Her twin brother knew everything.

Liona blinked, thinking about Al wasn't smart, she could see him, his blue eyes wide as she vanished in front of him when she jumped on the guy, not realizing it would take her years into the past. She hadn't known, she just wanted to stop him. They'd heard him say he was going to kill the King, that meant her father. No way she and Al would stand idly by. She wondered what they were thinking, what they were doing - but then again, it wasn't happening yet at all...

"You miss your family," Allura said.

Liona nodded, her heart pounding and she blinked. She wouldn't cry, she looking around the room she was in. Noticing it was a lot like the usual hospital room she'd wake up in after being hurt back home. Her eyes fell on her father, asleep on a couch by the window, mouth open. She could see the cut on his throat and her anger rose. "Please tell me that bitch is dead? I know I shot her, but did I kill her?"

Allura nodded. "You got her square between her eyes, she died instantly. Broke most of her spells. Except for Coran's..." Allura sighed.

Liona bit her lower lip. "I, I really love him too," she whispered, figuring it wouldn't be weird to admit she knew Coran, she wasn't so far from the future. She'd admitted Keith was her teacher. Why not that she knew Coran, she didn't have to say she considered him her grandfather, that she'd been raised to see him as her grandfather. The living one anyway. Her eyes fell on her sleeping father, he looked younger too, but mostly he looked he same, just clean shaven. Her father was almost never so clean shaven, but stubble was there if she looked more closely, he'd shaved for the Ball she supposed.

Curiosity got the best of her. "Did you and Lance kiss for the first time tonight?" she asked.

Allura's eyes widened but she shook her head. "No," she looked over at Lance and smiled. "Our first kiss was a while ago. We were trapped in a cave for a few days. It was...he didn't even remember it, he thought it was a dream. He was rather feverish." Allura giggled.

Liona frowned, it was rare she didn't like being right. But she didn't know what it meant and if it really mattered. It couldn't be about her being in the timeline, because that happened before she arrived. She hadn't caused the difference. She was doing the best she could not to change things, just save her father. Liona looked back toward him, she couldn't help but smile and she swallowed over a lump in her throat.

"I really did it," she said. "I saved him."

"Yes," Allura said and she took Liona's hand. "And I'm so thankful, so very thankful," she said, tears falling from her eyes and she squeezed Liona's hand. "Anna underestimated you, and it was her mistake. But you have to promise me something."

Liona had to bite the inside of her cheeks, she was trapped in her mother's empathic and open gaze. She felt the gratitude in waves, then she felt the importance of whatever it was that was coming next. "What?"

"If you are ever injured, whatever the situation, whatever the place, wherever you are, you must let a trained medical professional look at your wound and not walk around taking care of it yourself and acting uninjured. Please?"

Liona felt laughter bubble out of her, she'd been treating herself for over two weeks, when in her head she could hear her mother chastising her for not going to a real doctor. But she hadn't wanted to risk clanging any bells, Dad and Uncle Keith were already looking at her with their 'suspicious eyes' and she hadn't wanted them alerted. Her wound was techmagic induced, it looked lazon induced, they very well could've been told about it due to security protocols. Yet she still heard her mother's voice, get real treatment, Liona, lie your way out of it if your father or Keith are called in but take care of yourself.

Allura wasn't her mother yet but she was, and made Liona miss her mom more. She nodded her yes, her promise, because she was afraid if she said yes she'd start to cry.

There was a sudden rustle of clothing and Lance was standing, blaster out. Liona laughed, because she'd seen her father wake up like more times than she could count. Including when her youngest sister was born and he scared the nurse - who was bringing her into the room to nurse - half to death. She glanced at Allura, to see an amused smile and raised eyebrow, the usual reaction. They were so much further ahead than the pink bound book in her room in the maid quarters was revealing, Liona's curiosity rose again.

"Hey, Firebrand, you okay?" Lance asked.

Liona's throat threatened to close, how, how and why had he called her that. She blinked hard and fast. He couldn't know his nickname for her, could he? Had he just pulled it out thin air, and renamed her again on his own? Was it what it was? He was her father, so he knew who she was, despite not having clue of the bloodline.

"I'm okay, tired, I guess," she choked out, praying no tears escaped.

His hand landed on her head and ran down her hair, like he always did when he was worried about her and didn't know what to say, or do. She turned toward Allura but it didn't help, seeing worry, empathy, all aimed at her. She couldn't do this. "I, I'd like to be alone," she said.

"Oh," they said in unison.

Allura stood up, Liona couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked in her blue gown, she wondered what would happen about the ball. "Will they reschedule the ball?"

"No," Allura said soundly. "At least not here on Arus," she added.

"We have to save, Coran," Lance added. He than grabbed Liona's hand. "Look, I hate to ask you this but... Do you know anything about the King Spell's, is there any story about me getting Coran out of one?"

Liona shook her head. "No story. But, I mean the prophecies on the King spells are under the catacombs, under Gr-King Alfor's tomb, directly under them. They were found about two years before I was born, I guess you could find them early..." Liona trailed off, thinking if they got together early, why not find the prophecies early. "It was in there, that Princess Allura found the a Prophecy about you being the current true king. And what the true king means to Arus. So, maybe there is something in there about the spells and breaking them. Though really the prophecies are rather opaque, though M-Princess Allura can usually figure them out really well."

Liona finished by biting her tongue, cursing herself for almost slipping up so many times and trying to tell herself it would be a relief when they left the room. "I would really like to be alone."

"Right, you're tired from being a one woman army, get some rest," Lance said, dropping her hand and walking around the bed. He put his arm around Allura, Allura tucked herself into him but she looked back.

"Liona, if you need anything just asked, I've told the staff you are a Royal Member of the House of Arus, a Princess. They'll accept that no questions asked. If you need anything else, you can ask for me or Lance."

"Okay," she said.

The second the door closed, the tears started. She wiped at them and shook her head, trying to stop but it was too much. It was so hard, it was so hard to be in her home and feel homesick. To be with her parents and miss them harder than she'd ever missed them before during a separation. She missed Al, that was the hardest part. They were always together, they were always a unit, he always had her back. He would have taken care of her wound, he would be here now, understanding the strangeness of all of this. They could talk out the hard questions of time travel and uncertainty of what is right and wrong, and if the discrepancies between the diary and what happened mattered. She and Al had never been apart for more than a few hours in their lives, she was used to him, in her head, poking her in the side, driving her crazy, being an ass, and in return she'd be a bitch... He was her twin, her brother and she felt empty right now without him there, without his existence. To help her through the weirdness.

She wiped at her eyes, took a sharp breath. "I can do this," she whispered. "I can do this," she repeated and then she closed her eyes, started one of the mediations Keith had taught them. To center and clear your head, help you to not panic, to keep your focus. She had to stay focus, they would work on a way to try to get her home. They wouldn't allow her to stay out of her own time.

Breathe in, breathe out.

~~.~~

Lance reluctantly left Allura at her door, with a soft kiss to her lips. Then he pulled off his jacket, wondered where he'd lost the tie to the suit, and tried not to think about the blood on his shirt. His daughters blood, he shivered and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He had to report in with Keith, he was going to get reamed out for not stepping a foot out of med tech for the night. He'd tried once he knew Liona was stable, but she'd looked so tiny in the bed, so pale and Allura was staring at her, shaking and he knew he was too. He couldn't leave and he decided to take the lecture, the heat and the questions he'd have no way of answering to Keith's satisfaction.

He walked into the control room, relieved when he saw Arus on the control screen at peace, quiet and looking the same as ever. "No signs of Doom?"

"None, but we were expecting this dry spell from them," Pidge said.

Lance nodded. "True, keep those eyes peeled though."

"Oh, are you doing your job now?"

Lance knew he deserved that but there was an extra coldness in Keith's voice, one he knew he deserved even more but he wasn't sure how to handle. "Liona's woken up, think she's going to heal up pretty quick. She's tough," he said, more for himself than anyone else in the room.

"Good to know," Hunk said. "She saved our behinds out there, stopping those weapons how she did."

"Hope she can show me how she did it," Pidge said. "Might be a handy knowledge to have, all things considered. Be prepared for the future, you know?"

As they spoke Keith and Lance were holding the others gaze, in what felt like a weird staring contest to Lance. Sven cleared his throat. "How is the Princess Liona holding up, she is quite young to be killing as she did?"

Lance felt a jolt of guilt, he and Allura had decided to teach her how, but his eyes landed on Pidge, he thought about himself, Keith, Hunk and Sven. He was reminded of Allura, fighting for her place to protect her people. He looked over at Sven, held his gaze and said. "She's fine, she told Allura it's her privilege to fight for the Arusian people, and what they have rebuilt. She considers it an honor," he said, hoping the wave of pride he felt didn't come out too loudly.

"Who is she?" Keith asked.

Lance looked at Keith. "Princess Liona, of the future," he said.

"Allura didn't ask how Liona is her relation?"

"Allura, didn't think it mattered," Lance said.

Keith shook his head. "So she came here, lied about her name, who she was, and the Arielist leader, from even further in the future, calls her Princess Liona and we buy it?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "Thing is Anna had no reason to lie and then there is Allura's prophecy, and oh right, Mira confirmed all of this."

Keith sighed, Lance knew he'd nailed him by bringing up Mira. "I just want to understand how she is."

Lance laughed.

"What?" Keith said.

"You want all the answers, but I don't think we should know to much, do you?"

Keith nodded. "Still want too, though," he grumbled

"I did ask her about Coran. She said there are King Prophecies in some cave under Alfor's tomb in the catacombs."

"That's what Tarus told me, he wasn't sure where exactly does she know a clear location."

"I think so yes," Lance said.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow."

"Going to be nicer to her," Lance snapped.

Keith stared. "Excuse me?"

Lance sighed. "Just you seemed kind of hard on her Keith."

"She's a teenager who lied to us, her story was asinine..." Keith trailed off. "Though, true. If she doesn't act like a brat to me, I'll be nice."

Lance shrugged, he supposed he couldn't count that out. Liona was out of her element, alone. He thought back to what he'd read about her in the few journals he peeked at, the pictures he saw...her twin brother was right there in all of them. She probably felt alone for the first time in life.

"What are we doing to get her back?" he asked.

Pidge sighed. "Well, I've looked at this things we took off the dead. All the living still have theirs, without the power source, at least ones we nabbed before they hit the switch. A lot of them just zapped back to 375 years into the future. I can't understand it, it's science that is well... genuis, it's amazing. It could take me years to get a handle on this, and I can't think of anyone alive who could understand faster than me."

Lance didn't like the sound of that, he shook his head. "She can't get stuck here, it's not..."

"It might be something she'll have to face," Keith said.

"No," Lance said.

Keith gave him a strange look.

Then the door opened and Nanny came barging in, holding the Arusian Times. She walked up to Lance and slapped him across the face with it. "Explain this cover article to me, Commander! It is bad enough Coran is trapped and that we all almost died. Now this travesty!"

Lance grabbed the paper from her. "Nanny, I'm sure whatever this is, it's not a...oh fuck." He stared down at picture of him and Allura in the medical wing, in front of the doors that said operating room, kissing. He wracked his brain, when had they kissed? They hadn't kissed? Oh, right, quick, soft kisses that hadn't been anything really but enough. Who the fuck had taken a picture? Shit.


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter Sixty-four

Allura realized as she walked toward the door to the ballroom that was going to be no bracing herself for facing what she found inside. But she had to check on Coran. It didn't matter how horrifying the situation was, or how much it was going to break her heart, it was the first thing she needed to do after her shower and change of clothes. Lance was right, she felt much better out of the cumbersome ballgown and in a simple top and pants, she hadn't bothered to do anything with her hair, or even put on her crown, she knew Nanny would 'tsk' at her but it wasn't as if the Staff didn't know who she was the Princess.

She pushed open the door, no waiting, the guards didn't stop her of course because she had access and she stopped short. Underneath Coran in a circle were four members of the administration staff, holding hands, with them were Ara, Padraig, and Espen. Mira and Tarus, were sitting at a makeshift desk with paperwork, and other staff members seemed to be signing up for something.

Allura looked upwards and saw that Coran's expression was almost peaceful, it was quite there but the pain and trauma wasn't as etched as deeply, deepening his wrinkles. He looked less pinched with pain, he looked more like Coran after a long night of working in his office too late. Thankfulness waved over her, as she walked over to Tarus and Mira, even though she did not yet know what the Seer's had implemented but she knew they were helping Coran, until they found the way to help Lance save him.

"Mira?" Allura asked as she walked up the desk.

Tarus nodded his head to his adopted daughter and Mira handed him the paper she he held, and stood up to talk to Allura. They walked back closer to Coran.

"Ara, is helping to focus the mental energy of the staff, so that Coran can feel the collective positive thoughts and the collective positive knowledge that Arus is save, that Anna has been stopped and that what he is seeing is not real and will not last. Ara's picked up that he knows it is fake, but the emotional tax on his heart nonetheless was hard hitting, but hearing others tell him has helped some. We're setting up a rotating schedule with the staff, so it's constant until Lance knows what it is he needs to do."

Allura cried, she wasn't ashamed, she turned and hugged Mira to show her gratitude. Mira's arms wrapped around her and Allura smiled when she pulled back and she nodded. "When I get some free time, I'll come down, I hope I get some..." she looked up at Coran. "Lance is petrified he can't..."

"He's wrong, but he'll always struggle with who he is to Arus. It's not a title that sits well with his own view of himself," Mira said.

Allura nodded.

"Even though he rises to the title quite well," Mira added with a sly grin.

Allura grinned in return. "I have faith that he will, I can feel it, you don't need to tell me."

"I know."

Allura breathed out. "After I came here, I was going to track you down anyway," she said, squeezing Mira one more time in a hug because she was thankful more than she could ever say. "I wanted to ask you to check on Liona, I think given who you are she might feel safer talking to you over anyone else..."

"She does. We've already spoken a few times."

Allura couldn't say she was surprised, what she really felt was curious. "How, what...Tell me?"

Mira took Allura's hands, squeezed. "When she first arrived she tracked me down. She needed to get her bearings. I assured her she was meant to be here, that it wasn't a mistake but a fixed point in her path. Her choices brought her here. She wasn't too happy about that, I told her the year. She seemed to surprised you guys already knew me, when I told her the year. There were some other things that seemed to surprise her, she didn't know you ever dated Keith. But she also didn't think you'd be as close with Lance as you are yet."

"She asked me we kissed for the first time last night."

Mira nodded. "Your and Lance's trip to the future, it wasn't a fixed point. It came and went in my visions, often for weeks. I never knew if it would or wouldn't happen. Then it happened, I was kind of shocked. The Moon was fixed, the kiss in the cave on the moon, wasn't. But the amount of time you stuck on the moon also wasn't fixed. But it was always a pivotal moment for the two of you."

Allura found herself blushing.

"Anna wasn't fixed. Tarus has told me that, he said that though Liona coming her from the future was fixed, what she'd battling wasn't always clear. It fluctuated and changed. It's why he couldn't warn you about her."

Allura's sighed. "All this time travel, fixed points and the rest of it, it all, it all, it's just... I believe in it, I feel it's power in my soul where my intuition lies. But if I think about it too much... headache."

Mira smiled. "I'm just telling you all of this, because even if we never know what it all means...your trip to the future with Lance, changed the timeline that Liona is from, yet she's from that timeline. There is a element of magic and an Unknown hand in all of this. She should have come from the changed timeline, yet she didn't. And I think, Anna came the exact future you and Lance left - never knowing you and Lance were there."

"But we have changed things, I don't..."

"Unknown Hand. Arusian Gods, a Goddess. The Earth God, whatever it is you believe in," Mira said.

Allura nodded. "The magic of time, seeing and Voltron comes from somewhere after all."

"Yes."

"Liona? She's missing, well me and Lance. And I would assume her twin brother... I remember in our bedroom in the future, there was never a picture of Al and Liona with only one of them. Not one," Allura struggled to keep her voice even. "Please check on her," Allura reminded Mira.

"Of course."

"I really, I need to talk to Keith," Allura said a feeling of guilt, shame and dread coming over her.

"And you don't know the half of it," Romelle's voice said from behind her.

Allura turned, fear joining the rest of the emotions that had invaded when she brought up her next task. Talking to Keith, coming clean, breaking both of their hearts in so many ways.

Romelle's expression was grim, she held the Arusian Times. Allura was confused, she expected the the newspaper would have a story about the attack, probably some misinformation, hopefully the misinformation Keith wanted printed. "What is it?" she asked taking the paper.

Romelle waited, her face saying the paper held all the answers.

Allura looked at the front and she felt instantly light-headed. Mira was the one to gasp, looking at the front page from over her shoulder. "I didn't see this, though I rarely see external things. But I would've liked to been able to warn you."

Allura kept staring at the picture and how it looked so much worse than the moment was and yet she knew it captured an innate truth. It wasn't a passionate clinch at all, thought it looked one. It'd been a quick soft kiss, though when her on her tiptoes, her hand on his cheek, and Lance's hands clasped on her waist it looked like more. What it was was intimate, pure intimacy, what it showed was her face full of love and Lance leaning into her for strength because that was the moment. She closed her eyes.

"Has he seen this? Keith, I mean?" she asked.

"Nanny, saw a copy and went running to the control room," Romelle revealed.

"He's going to kill him," Allura said, and she dropped the paper and bolted off in a hard run.

~~.~~

"Are you going to explain yourself!" Nanny exclaimed.

"Nanny, this picture is not entirely what it looks like," Lance stammered, one eye on Keith who was walking across the room toward them.

"What is it?"

"It's horrible! The rumors, Allura's reputation, what the people must be thinking! You should keep your hands to yourself, always touching her so inappropriately. In such a public place, you should no better!" Nanny screamed at Lance.

Keith reached out to grab the paper.

Lance moved back two steps and put it over his head. "Keith, we should talk about this, _alone._"

Keith met Lance's gaze, stubborn expression, hard set to his jaw. "Give me the paper, Lance."

"That's not a good idea," Lance said. "It's misleading, it doesn't represent...it's misleading but we should just talk about this in private. Keith, let's just go to your office."

"Keith," Sven interjected, not knowing what was on the paper but on hearing what Nanny had said Lance guessed Sven supposed what it could be. "I think Lance is right, go talk with him alone in your office."

"Please," Lance added, knowing the out of character appeal might make a difference, even if it would heighten Keith's suspicions.

Keith's eyes narrowed, Lance didn't like the look on his friends face at all. It was a storm and then lightning quick, Keith moved, shoved Lance to the ground, had one hand on Lance's throat, pressing into the wound Anna had left behind, and the newspaper in his other hand.

"Captain!" Nanny shouted. "This isn't appropriate behavior."

"It's okay," Lance managed to grunt out, despite the pressure against his adam's apple.

"It's okay!" Pidge, Hunk and Sven yelled.

Keith used his free hand to get the newspaper flat against the floor to look at the cover story. Lance breathed through his nose as well as he could, waiting out the storm that Keith at the moment. This could either way, he figured, Keith wouldn't keep pinned to the floor, no he'd let let him get to his feet, make it as fair as a fight as it could be. They did both have their advantages. But if Keith wanted to fight, it would be to hurt him, and that would mean broken bones, so he really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Keith went quiet, the pressure on his throat didn't abate however. He heard footsteps, Hunk's boots heavy on the floor. Pidge's and Sven's almost the same. He could feel them looming over him and Keith, looking down at the newspaper. It remained quiet for the next few moments, with the exception of Nanny muttering. "Boys, get up off the floor. Oh, this is worse than I thought. Captain, Commander!" They all ignored her like she was white noise.

"Hey, that's my foot!" Pidge said, suddenly. "I saw this. That was just a peck on his lips."

Keith's hand came off Lance's throat and he stood up. Lance took in a breath and made his way to his feet too, Sven giving him a helping hand. He and Sven shared a significant glance. Keith had the paper in his hand still, staring at it. "My office now," Keith said, his voice low as thunder.

Lance took off after Keith, but Sven's hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned back and met Sven's grey eyes. "Do you want back up?" he asked lightly.

Lance shook his head. "This is about us," he said.

Sven nodded.

Lance walked toward the office, wondering what the hell do to. This was something Allura wanted to do. Needed to do, she had to let go of Keith, she loved him and always would. She needed to break up with him because it had to be a real break up to be right. To be true. He had no right to say anything before she did. Yet here he was in the office, standing in front of Keith's desk, while Keith stood behind it.

"Don't lie to me."

"I won't."

"You love her."

"Of course I love her," Lance said.

Keith shook his head. "No, admit it. You are in love with her, have been for a long time, Lance. Months, longer maybe...but I knew it before that damn Moon. Everyone knew it..."

"She didn't," Lance said.

Keith rolled his eyes.

"Have you told her?"

Lance hated this, he was backed into a corner here. "You know, I really think you should be talking to Allura."

"I'm talking to you," Keith snapped, and he held up the paper. "Fine this was a peck, I trust Pidge. It looks like more, you know why it looks like more. Look at her, look at you. You two aren't in the midst of simple amity here. This is... She doesn't look at me like that, I don't think she's ever looked at me like that," Keith said slamming the paper down.

"Allura, you need to talk to her," Lance repeated.

"Right. Allura. Who has been avoiding me. Ducking out of every attempt to kiss her. Barely speaking to me and when she has been speaking to me, arguing with me."

Lance sighed. "She was upset about the Princes. She agreed for Arus' sake, but she regretted it. She'd hoped you could understand that."

"Funny, to me it felt more like she was just pissed off she couldn't get to dance with you all night."

"Keith," Lance said.

"Then I find her in your bed, Lance. I didn't overreact, I trusted you, but..." he eyed the newspaper. "Should I be?"

No. Not at all, Lance thought. "Talk with, Allura."

"I'm talking with you," Keith shouted, but his office door flew open and Allura ran in panting.

Her hand instantly fell into Lance's, she turned around and looked at him. He smiled at her reassuringly he hoped but her eyes narrowed. She touched his throat, near where he'd been cut, near where Keith's hand been holding him down. "He hurt you," she whispered.

"I'm fine."

"Great, just great, am I even in my own office?" Keith asked, his voice cutting.

Allura's face fell, Lance didn't need to be able to read her mind or sense her feelings to know the guilt and shame she felt. _Do you want me to stay, or leave_?

_Leave, I should do this alone._

Lance nodded, he squeezed her hand._ I'm right outside, if you need me._

Allura nodded.

"Where are you going, we aren't done, Lance," Keith snapped, seeing Lance leaving.

Lance turned. "Keith, we'll start our conversation after you talk with Allura. I'm, I'm going to go talk with Castle security about making sure noone walks out of her with unofficial photographs of Allura on their cell phones, or cameras anymore."

Keith snorted.

Lance gave Allura one last look, he shook his head._ Good luck, I'm sorry it happened this way. I love you_.

She nodded at him and then turned, putting her full on Keith.

~~.~~

Keith watched the door close, he was angry Lance was leaving. He wanted to deal with the both of them. With the secrets, the lies, he knew there were many, his instincts were screaming at him there were more than he knew. More than he knew, more than they all knew, that it wasn't only him they'd been lying too. But Coran, the rest of the team, and he couldn't help wondering if they hadn't held on to whatever the secrets where if they could have prevented what had happened last night.

Allura knew Lance was King. Allura had known that a teenager would show herself to aid them in a time of need. She had never spoken up about it - never warned him. But he knew, he just knew Lance knew it all. Every word of the prophecies, and every thought Allura had them. What her intuition told her about them. But not a word to him, the man she had asked to have court her, the Captain of Voltron Force.

He was angry. He was hurt. He didn't understand any of this, he didn't understand her behavior and he wasn't really sure how with all their discussions on talking to each other, on being there for each other, on getting to know each other he'd missed the shift in their relationship where she'd stopped loving him.

He picked up the newspaper and held it up. "Explain it, Allura."

"It's just a small kiss, it's not really an embrace like it looks," Allura said. "But..."

"But?"

"The intimacy you see is real."

"You're in love with him."

Her smile was an instinctive reactive impulse. It was sincerity and truth, something she couldn't stop. Allura wore her feelings on her sleeve, her heart was the biggest part of her. She smiled before she knew she was, when she caught it she tamed it and she nodded. "Yes," she said simply.

"What happened to being in love with me?" Keith asked.

"I.." She stopped and took a breath. "I love you Keith, I always will. I will always love you, it's deeper than friendship, mere simple friendship. It's not at all how I love Hunk, or Pidge, or Sven. You're my hero, my planet's hero, no Seer or prophecy had to name you that for me to know this. You're my Keith. And I do love you, but...I think, maybe, I thought it meant I was in love with you, but I wasn't and until I really fell in love I couldn't know. And it's awful, and it meant I was horrible to you, shameful. It meant I led you on while I was without even realizing it, falling in love with Lance. I won't make excuses, I won't let my ignorance take me off the hook. And...what I did after I knew he loved me, that was the worst of it."

"What does that mean?"

"Keith, I told you that night, I told you after that night... when I pushed you too far, when I made you break your own rules after I announced no more chaperone. When we were in your bedroom. I pushed all your buttons, I did it on purpose. I... Lance was hallucinating in the cave, he told me he loved me in the cave, he kissed me and it was..." Keith felt his stomach roil as her lips curved up into unconscious smile. "It woke up something inside of me I didn't know needed to be awakened. And when he didn't remember his confession, when he didn't remember the kissing, when it was obvious he had no intention of coming between us when we returned. That he was going to respect my choice... of you. I mean he listened to me talk about how I could only love you for so many days, weeks, and months... I never shut about you when...I never shut up about you. He thought he had no chance. Keith, I didn't expect to fall in love with Lance. You were my dream, my fantasy, my thoughts every night for so long. Lance blindsided me but it's real and true. But I thought, I had chosen you, I thought maybe because you always kept such a wall between us physically that the feelings evoked by Lance were missing because we were moving so slow, because we kept each other so far apart when we touched. So I pushed, when you broke and pulled me in as hard and fast as Lance did ... I didn't react out of fear of not being ready like you thought. It wasn't right, it wasn't right at all. We aren't...in love. I realize you were, are physically attracted to me. But..we aren't in love. We've never said it, I used to think you were just waiting, for the right time and I thought I was waiting for to say it. But when Lance confessed his love to me, I realized I was saying I love you to him, all the time..."

"Shut up," Keith said. He couldn't hear this anymore. "You've been with him since that night, in my room, haven't you."

"Yes. I ran to him, I didn't know who else to run too and I made him remember the cave. He did and didn't... we... we got together."

"And you what decided telling me wasn't needed?"

"No!" Allura snapped. "It was the first thing I wanted to do. It was the first thing he expected me to do. But the bomb in the garden happened... and there was the Ball coming up. So many security needs, such a possible security threat. You were already distracted, stressed. We, I... We needed you focused."

Keith turned his back on her.

"Keith my Castle, my people were in danger. We had all those diplomats coming into the Castle. How many more of them would have been hurt by Anna and her people if your security plan hadn't been so meticulous. And can you say you would've been as focused if you knew about us going in?"

"Get out," Keith said. Knowing something could make you think you were ready to hear it and would be able to handle it. Knowing something could fool into thinking you could take the pain. Keith forgot that it was a false sense of security. "Allura, just get out."

There was silence behind him, it surprised him, he expected Allura to argue with him. To fight more to make him see she cared, that they had noble intentions in not coming to him sooner. That they'd never meant to hurt him, all those things he'd known they say, and did believe in his heart not that it made him feel better. No it didn't matter to his heart or his soul at all at this point. Believe in their good nature, their sincerity it didn't matter. The quiet disconcerted him, then he heard his door open and close. It cut him harder than anything else... She wasn't going to fight harder for them not meaning to hurt him. She wasn't going to tell him she loved him again. She left, following his wishes, she got out of his way.

Allura was gone, and she was probably crying into Lance's chest. Keith cleared his desk in a spike of anger, papers, bins, and his favorite coffee mug crashed to the floor. The mug shattered to pieces, dark liquids splashing onto the floor as well, Keith stared at it. The pieces on the floor and wondered how the hell he, Allura and Lance would ever fit together again.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter Sixty-five

_Lance._

Allura walked out of Keith's office, straight into the wall across from his door, she touched her hands to the wall, pressed her forehead against the solid granite of it. Lance was behind her within moments, he hadn't answered her call verbally, or mentally, but his arms wrapped around her, his nose was in her hair, and he she felt his chest rising and falling against her back as he breathed.

Lance was alive, she thought, remembering how close she'd come to losing him not so long ago. He was alive, their daughter had saved him. She'd somehow fell through time, following a terrorist from another time, who wanted to stop the McClain line before it began...

She and Lance had seen Anna try to harm the McClain line, attack the Castle of Lions, when she thought it had no protection, when she believed Voltron wasn't an option for defense. They'd been pulled to the future, like their daughter had someone been pulled here to the past.

They didn't know they were going to fall in love. Allura sobbed, she'd spent the entire trip to the future in awe of the beauty, the strength, the sheer size of the cities, the future of Arus was bright. Her planet had rebuilt and it thrived, and she'd shouted for all to hear she loved Keith.

She hadn't known a thing. However, heart was now broken, all the same. She did love Keith. He'd come to her home, he'd taken her hand. He'd been the first to show her how to fly. He'd been the first to say the things she'd prayed for out loud, that hope was worth fighting for, that they could bring back Voltron, they could do something about Zarkon. He'd saved her from herself, by teaching her how to see the difference between a witch's lies, and the feeling's she had in her own soul she could trust as much as breath itself.

Allura cried for him, for herself, she'd broken something, she'd said her last goodbye to the fantasy of the Princess and the Knight in Shining Armor living happily ever after. They wouldn't dance in the ballroom, he wouldn't kiss her hand goodnight at her door again, and there wouldn't be a shy smile with her blushing across a table. It was over, and it'd happened in such an unfitting way. Keith wasn't supposed to find out like this. It wasn't supposed to happen in the middle of chaos and confusion. There was already too much pain and worry.

Allura gasped for air. _Shh, breathe, Allura,_ Lance said in her mind, and ran his hands down her her arms. Soothing, strong, comforting, there. _There_, Allura thought, remembering again, she turned and touched his throat. Where Anna had cut him, where Keith had bruised him, and she thought of Liona in the hospital wing, where she'd kicked them out because they'd been a reminder of the parents she missed.

Allura touched Lance's face, she focused on breathing, trying to calm herself, slow her crying so she could speak. "The Seer's are helping Coran, they've got a rotation of staff, they're sending mental help to his mind. To help lessen the pain of Anna's curse." She combed her fingers into Lance's hair, pushing it behind his ear.

It had the reaction Allura was hoping for Lance's expression visibly lightened. "Keith said Tarus told him about the same catacombs Liona mentioned," he said. "I..." he didn't look but they both thought about the man in the office behind them.

Allura sighed. "I don't know," she shook her head. "I...it hurts," she whispered.

"Baby, I'm sorry," he said, pulling her closer into him. "Maybe we..."

"Don't, we can't play what if we made a different choice, because it's...we didn't..." Allura trailed off. "We did the best we could, we did."

Lance nodded. _You're right. I can't see any other way to play it, I keep going over it and over it. We couldn't do anything else...I damn well tried not fall for you, you impossible woman._

Allura smiled, unable to help it, she loved it when he said it. When he called her that. When he looked at her with that look in his hazel eyes that told her, she was it, the one, the woman he loved more than anything, anyone.

"So, beautiful, too beautiful," Lance said.

Allura blushed. _What do we do now?_

_I don't know._

They heard footsteps, they turned and saw Sven and Romelle walking up to them, Pidge and Hunk a few steps behind them. Lance let go of her waist, but grabbed hold of her hand, Allura squeezed it. She took a breath. "I told him," she said meeting her cousin's eyes.

"So, it's true," Hunk said. "You two, are..." he made a movement with his hands.

"Yes," Lance and Allura said together.

"What!" Nanny exclaimed from behind them, making them jump. "Princess, what is this you are saying? You, you have been being courted by Captain Kogane, you cannot be with Commander McClain."

"Nanny," Allura turned around, having to let go of Lance, but his hand quickly landed on her shoulder, a source of strength, a reminder of everything both bad and good. A reminder of what really mattered. "Please, don't Nanny, please? Just know that I love Lance, I do.

"If he has dishonored you!" Nanny yelled.

"Nanny, I love her," Lance said. "That's all that matters," he shook his head.

"Ach, it is not. There are traditions. There are...she was with Keith. Courtship, she was cheating...ach. This is horrible, that newspaper was true...What will Coran say when he gets back here?"

"Thank you, Lance," Allura said defiantly.

Both Nanny and Lance looked at her with wide eyes. Lance stiffened a bit, Allura looked at him, shook her head slightly and whispered in his mind. _We have our lead, we'll find the way._

"This True King Prophecy, it is real?" Nanny asked, Allura.

"Yes, Nanny."

"I wish to see it," Nanny said.

Allura nodded, "Lance and I wish to speak to Father, if you want you may come down with us, now."

"No, no. I must go to Coran, my time there is soon. I just wish to see it. Bring it me sometime today, Princess, please?"

Allura nodded, then she bent forward and hugged Nanny. "I love you," she whispered in her ear.

"Ach, yes, I love you too. I want you to be loved, honored, Princess. Given what you deserve. I want you respected." Nanny glared at Lance.

"I respect her," Lance said.

Nanny gave him one last hard look before leaving the area. Allura put her hand back in his. "Let's go see, Father," she said.

Lance nodded, but he turned first and looked at Sven. "Check on him?" he asked.

Sven nodded.

Allura squeezed Lance's hand, she felt shaky still about Keith. Her mind didn't know how to process it, her mind didn't know how to process much of what was going on. She didn't know if the delegates, or the Princes that had arrived for the Ball were still even in the Castle. Had they left? Had they not? Was the Garrison still on Arus? She sighed, she suddenly wanted to stop heading down to the tombs, and go back to the medical wing to see Liona. She also wanted nothing more than to go somewhere and be alone with Lance.

_It's all to much._

_I know._

~~.~~

Keith had the pieces of the broken mug on his desk, it was the only thing on his desk, when Sven walked in. He looked up when Sven walked in and then looked back down. Sven had come in without bothering to ring the chime, or announce his presence. Keith understood but he didn't care. He held the handle of the mug in his left hand, it was the biggest piece of once had been his favorite mug. He drank his tea out of it, herbal, green, now and again a strong black when he needed a dose of caffeine in his system. He was trying to remember who gave it to him, as he moved the shattered ceramic off white pieces around on the surface of his dark red wooden desktop.

He'd gotten it here on Arus, sometime during their first year, he knew that much. It'd been a gift, his birthday he thought - it hadn't been from any of the team, or Allura. It wasn't Coran or Nanny. That left the people... The Arusians, he supposed. The magazines, newspapers, television and Internet Media told them they had Fans, Groupies, people who called themselves Voltron Fans, and some who called themselves Volts and some who scorned them for a such a stupid name. Keith frowned, he wasn't aware he knew that fact, because he never thought about it, or rather he tried not think about it. The status they had as celebrities bothered him, it felt like it made light of the situation. Arus was a planet at war, was a planet that still had men and women living caves - and with the Underground come to light, there were more people on the fringes and in the dark than Keith had been aware of in the first place. They built structures, knowing they could blown to pieces the very day they hammered in the nails... yet the Arusian people kept on.

He wanted to respect that hope, that strength, that will to fight that they, the Voltron Force hadn't created, they had just awakened. They couldn't have evoked it, if hadn't been there innate within the Arusian people. He felt the team therefore owed Arus respect, the people respect, and he respected their different societal rules, and traditions. He respected the traditions of Castle, and Arusian Royalty rules which were even more strict than those on Earth where Kingdoms still reigned. Because they were given the task and honor of respecting it. It meant respecting the people - and here it was, Princess Allura herself hadn't respected the Arusian Rules Courtship; the entire time she was meeting alone with Lance, everyday, at any hour she pleased and falling in love. Keith placed the handle to the mug on the desk and let out a bitter laugh.

He'd met a lot of women on Arus struggling against the rigid rules of dating against them, figuring ways around it, but Allura... Allura he thought would never do it manipulatively. She'd be upfront, honest, because she was inherently an honest soul and an honest person. He didn't even know she could lie, and thought if she ever did he'd be able to tell. She'd asked Coran to ask him to ask her out...that was what he expected. If she'd started to have feelings for Lance, why hadn't she told him then and there?

Somehow the questions seemed to answer itself... Would he had come right out to her if he had feelings for someone else while seeing her? Or would he had struggled with the feelings on his own first, trying to figure them out before he spoke? He'd want to be clear first. Allura would want to be clear. Yet it still stung, it still felt a lie, it still felt as if she and Lance were walking the Castle Halls, hands tight, heads together, whispering their secrets.

And that was the thing, Keith thought, Allura and Lance always had secrets, a friendship no one could understand and he'd been ask to understand...but he couldn't. He'd feared it, he'd been right too. He sighed.

"Keith?" Sven finally said, after sitting in the chair in front of the desk in silence for a long while.

"She was right, we weren't in love... I do love her though, I thought I could fall in love with her. She's so beautiful, I'm very attracted to her, both her soul and her beauty. I'll kill him if he hurts her... I realized she and I had these idealized versions of each other in our heads. We had to get past that, but we never could. The reason was him...she was wrapped up in him. I just... Knowing we weren't working, doesn't make it hurt less, because I wanted it to work, I wanted to try, Sven. And I don't get them? They don't make sense to me, and I love Lance, angry as I am right now...I do. But is he good enough for her? He's got her lying to me, lying to all of us. They are both lying."

"Yes, they do have their secrets," Sven agreed. "I'm sorry about how you found out."

"You've known?"

Sven sighed. "Romelle and I got an accidental show them kissing. I think it was the night they got together, put it all out on the table. Then the next morning there was the bomb in the garden... If Romelle hadn't sent me to check on them, I fear what may have happened."

Keith paled, thinking both about Allura's innocence and her life. "You agreed with them then? On keeping it from me until after the Ball."

"Keith, you were already suspicious, already giving Lance the hard eyes and harder tones. But you were working with him, well, and you two in unison are the best team there is for security. Allura's life seemed to be in danger, there were delegates coming from many planets, Princes, Kings, Queens... not to mention Romelle and Bandor. And...well, they didn't say it out loud but Romelle and I got the impression Lance and Allura were afraid for Lance's life in regards to the threat we found."

"I will stop the line before it begins, threat," Keith paraphrased.

Sven nodded.

"They knew," Keith nodded. "Must be another prophecy, Allura couldn't bother tell the rest of us about..." he shook his head and angrily smashed his hand down and cut it on the shards of broken ceramic. "Damn it," he hissed.

Sven said nothing.

Keith turned his hand so it was facing him, looking at the cut he'd self-inflicted upon himself. It wasn't deep, he'd only need to clean it off and put on a bandaid. He stared at the blood though, focused on the stinging pain and thought, it didn't hurt enough to make him forget the pain inside his chest, with each pound of his heart.

"I knew this girl once, back home on Earth. Bright, beautiful, she loved him and I thought she was funny, brilliant, and I loved being around her. She made me laugh," Sven said.

Keith looked up.

Sven met his gaze. "I could never fall in love with her. I tried, and I tried. And I had to finally tell her...it broke my heart, maybe not nearly as much as hers. I don't know really, I've never asked. We somehow, and I think this shows a rare strength on her part remained good friends. We exchange letters, and if she has something too important to wait for the mail exchange to take place between Pollux and Earth, she sets of face to face communication. How I learned she married, and was pregnant... But when I told her we would could never be more than friends, I felt like I lost something too, even though it was me who was the cause of the end of that idea."

Keith frowned. "So, I should feel bad for Allura?"

"Not, what I am saying. You yourself said Keith, you knew it wouldn't work. If she hadn't found what she's found with Lance, you very well could have been the one to break her heart someday. I'm saying that relationships and love is complicated. I never believed you could fall in love at first sight, in under a space of time shorter than a day. Then I met Romelle, and it was as if the rest of my life fell into place in a second."

"Do you get them, though?"

Sven was quiet for a long time, Keith grabbed a handkerchief from his desk drawer, and wrapped it around his hand for a temporary bandaid. He then pushed the pieces of the shattered mug around with his finger tips. Thinking about Lance and Lance with Allura over the years.

"When I think about it no. When I see them together, however, when they are being who they are, and being who they are together, Keith... They fit. She calms down fire, doesn't burn it out or anything, but there is a peace about him with her I've never seen within before. It makes him happier than I've seen him. And it's been with him, standing behind her, or to her side, or in the same room a whisper in her head, you know how they do, that I've realized she's is not the young Princess she once was. She knows who she is now, what she wants, and it's not just rebellion for the sake of protecting Arus out of need and revenge. It's about knowing what she believes is best for her people. She's becoming a Queen. I don't believe Lance caused it, but I know he won't hamper it."

Keith huffed. "He'll fan the flames."

Sven laughed.

"But is that good?"

"Time will tell?" Sven said. "She's happy, Keith. You might not want to here it, but the way she smiles at him, touches him when they think they are alone and safe... Which they do alone with me and Romelle. She's happy with him."

Keith frowned. "It makes even less sense to me than the prophecy about Lance being a true king, or people from the future..." he took a breath. "I should get back to work, speaking of that. I need to ask Liona about the the tombs she remembers where there are King Prophecies that might help Lance save Coran. And, I'll to swallow my pride and talk to Allura, I want to see the prophecy about Lance."

"They've gone down to Alfor's tomb," Sven said.

Keith nodded. "Time to work, then... too much to do. Are is it going with the delegates?"

"Almost all are off the planet. Just a few more to send home, then it will done. Graham and his soldiers will leave last, but he's offered to stay longer."

Keith shook his head. "No, we need to handle this internally."

Sven nodded. "You wish me to tell him?"

"Yes, if you don't mind, Sven."

Sven smiled. "I don't, I like feeling like part of the team, again."

"You never weren't part of the team," Keith reminded his friend. "Thank you, Sven. You're a good friend."

"Not that I wouldn't have walked in here anyway, but I feel the need to share that Lance did ask me to check on you."

Keith closed his eyes. Lance, his best friend, the constant shout in his head telling him to think bigger, or look outside the box more than he already was doing. Lance too reckless, too fast, too crass... Lance who'd stolen Allura, Lance had always known Keith had thought there was a possibility there for him and Allura. They were friends, they understood each other, they didn't cross certain lines.

"Sven? How the hell do I look him in the eye?"

"If you can't yet, don't. But, remember, we have a mess to clean up, Keith. We have Coran to save, and teenager to somehow get back to her own time."

Keith sighed. "Not just any teenager, a future Princess..." he frowned but pushed aside the question nagging at him, didn't even let it form into words. "Okay, I'm going to Alfor's tomb, to work. For now, it'll be all about the job."

Sven nodded. "I'll do as you requested, Cap," he said.

Keith smiled half-heartedly in gratitude and they both exited the office.


	66. Chapter 66

Lance dug his hands into the pockets of his leather jackets, the tombs always made him cold and Alfor's tomb itself had always made him uneasy. Since traveling back in time, every experience with the past King of Arus, made him feel less easy rather than on any solid ground. Given that King Alfor accepted Lance as Allura's future husband, saw Lance as the rightful _King_ to secede the throne. Lance, however, felt small here, unequal to ever place himself in the shadow left behind by Alfor. A King who should still be at his Throne, who had been taken down by Evil, by Zarkon's hand, and greed for power. Also, there was the fact the tombs were just drafty, underground, under water level in most places and natural cold, he watched Allura as she lit the candles and wondered that she wasn't shivering.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked.

Allura turned and shrugged. "Father's tomb always feels warm to me, maybe it's because I feel him even when he's not visibly manifested," she gave him a small smile that held her bittersweet feelings. It was an odd thing to have her father present in her life, after his death but as a spirit and present.

He walked over to her, pulled his hands out of his pockets and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her in for a hug that he knew they both needed. "I don't know what good this will do," he admitted.

"You're so cynical about this, yet you know he's real, that the Lions talk to you, and that our daughter is here from the future. You know there are things you can't explain with your eyes," Allura said.

"Still hard to take it all in," Lance said into her hair. "I believe because it's in me and I've trusted my gut feeling on people my whole life. It's... Arus made me believe in magic. You made me believe in the impossible."

Allura smiled, turning her head back to look at him for a moment. "Because I'm you're impossible woman?"

"Hell, yeah," he grinned.

Allura smiled, then she reached out and lit the last candle and on cue with the candle, King Alfor appeared before them.

_Allura, Lance... I have been expecting you both for quite some time. Your daughter has come, from her time, to follow her path here before she returns home. It will be soon now._

Lance tightened his hold on Allura, Liona gone soon now... It was good news but he didn't like hearing it in such absolute terms. He felt Allura's breath quicken and her voice sounded small when she spoke in the echoing chamber.

"Soon? How soon?"

Alfor smiled at them with such love and affection, Lance wanted to back away from it but he didn't dare because he couldn't let go of Allura. He didn't want to let go of Allura. _Follow your paths, and she shall follow hers, the way for her to return is already within her grasp._

"Cryptic," Lance muttered.

"Lance," Allura chastised.

_It is okay, Allura. I once found my Great-Great Grandfather's advice to be nonsense and now I find myself dictated by my spiritual being to be a nonsense talker myself._

"See, he admits it," Lance said.

Allura rolled her eyes. "He is trying to avoid the next questions," she said.

Alfor nodded. _The Prophecies concerning the True Kings up to Lance at least - are in a secret cave underneath my tomb. I was about to start excavating down there from something Ara told me saw, but that is when the Drules first started to attack us and as you know things became dire rather quickly for Arus. It was in that cave, Laurie in the future stumbled upon the prophecy you brought back with you through time."_

"Will it be in there?" Lance and Allura both asked.

Alfor smiled. _I must admit, that is a question I do not know the answer to. As Mira told you Allura, there is a larger will at work here, something that no man can understand but that he can only have faith in._

Allura nodded, Lance felt queasy. How could he have faith in something that could be hit with his fist? "Coran?" he asked over the lump in his throat.

"I'd like to know the answer to that as well," Keith's voice said from behind them. Lance stiffened, tightening his hold on Allura, feeling her tense physically plus a wave of guilt and unease waved off of her and into him. He felt it too.

Alfor's spirit didn't move a muscle yet he seemed to expand outward and grow, and Lance for a brief moment thought he felt an sensation of warmth circle him before the dampness of the chamber overwhelmed him again.

_Keith, I've been expecting a visit from you as well. You wish to see the prophecies of which Allura has spoken_, Alfor said, and the door to the prophecies flew open.

Keith glanced at them, made the briefest of eye contact with Allura, before he walked over and picked up the prophecies. One refused to leave the drawer.

_That one is about the Voltron Force coming to Arus, you know who you are Keith Kogane, you need not read it_, Alfor said and the door shut fast.

Lance breathed out in relief that Alfor had protected Keith from a prophets view of Lance and Allura's wedding. Keith would never believe it anyway, he was standing by Lance's side in the drawings, smiling and willingly standing up for Lance. It would make no sense, it did make no sense Lance thought. Prophecy he thought made no sense, whenever he tried to think about it, it gave him a headache. Then he wanted to punch prophecies in the nose, and there was no nose to punch.

"I would like to read..." Keith started to say.

_No,_ Alfor said. _Now, as for Coran. Keith you must give Lance the key to Black Lion. Lance, you need to speak with Black and through Black the other five Lions. Once in Black and in flight the pathway will become clear. Also, I will stress this, trust your instincts, sometimes the crazy, simple things have a grain of truth because they are what is best._

"Fly Black? Fly Black!" Lance said, his head spinning. That was insane, that was...just fly Black was Alfor's answer, not even his own Lion. Black Lion. Great this was just great, he looked over at Keith and found Keith staring at him and Allura because Alfor was gone. He'd said his final piece of cryptic advice and than vanished into the ether.

"Can he have it now?" Allura asked.

Lance held his breath.

Keith stepped back, looking at the prophecies he did hold in his arms and back at Alfor's coffin, where there was no sign of the hidden drawer, then back at them. His expression gave nothing away, his posture was straight, stiff and professional. He shifted the prophecies, he pulled his key out of the pocket it was always securely kept in and started to hold it out without a word and a draft floated through the tomb and knocked the prophecy with Liona holding her fire swords up to Keith and his throats after killing the Drule Gladiators Anna had conjured. It fluttered to the floor her face up and he and Allura both ended up staring at her rather than at Keith's hand with the proffered key.

"Lance," Keith said, voice sharp, commanding, an order.

Lance startled, looked up and saw the key.

"Coran. Take out Black, now. That is what you just asked for right?"

Lance nodded, he stepped forward but stopped down and gingerly picked up the prophecy about Liona and handed it back to Keith as he took the key. "Be more careful with those things, the paper is fragile."

"Please?" Allura added.

"Right, of course." Keith nodded.

Lance looked back at Allura, she nodded that it was okay to leave her, he sighed. _I love you...I don't know..._

_Lance, fly Black, have fun flying, connect with the Lion, and the answers will come. I believe in you, and I believe in..._

_What we can't see?_

She nodded and crossed the space between them, giving one sad glance at Keith, then straightening her shoulders and going up on her toes. She kissed him sweetly but quickly. "Luck, good luck," she whispered. _I love you._

"I don't know how long I'll be, don't wait for me to do anything else, okay?" Lance said. _Including Liona, if she has to leave... I..._

Allura nodded but blinked hard a few times and touched his face. "Go," she said.

Lance turned and quickly left this time, afraid he might not if he kept thinking.

~~.~~

Allura watched Lance leave her prayers hopeful that Black would quickly connect him to all the lions and they were able show him the way to help Coran. But she wasn't going to stop looking for another way to help Coran, herself, like Lance had asked. They'd look for that hidden cave, underneath her father's tomb, in the deeper catacombs. She turned back to Keith, who was staring at the drawing of Liona, his eyes wide.

"Uncanny isn't it," she asked.

"It's precise. Even her voltcom," Keith said. "The stance, me and Lance. Yet the danger was never known, according to Tarus. How is that possible?"

"Seers see," Allura said.

Keith looked up then and looked at her. "Right. I need to talk to Tarus about the catacombs below Alfor's tomb, did he mention them to you and Lance?"

"Yes, they are there. Ara told Father about them before the attacks on Arus began, it seems, though since she is helping people pull their good thoughts together to send to Coran, I rather she not be bothered. Only Tarus and Mira, please?"

Keith nodded. "I rather work with Mira, than Tarus, she tells us things, Tarus is holding back, he needs to be spoken to about that. Do you want to do it, Princess, or should I?"

Allura bit the inside of her cheek, she wanted to scold him for treating her as a co-worker, a stranger, but she had to no right too. If this was what was going to help through this and help him to work with her and Lance through this crisis. "I'll talk to him. I'm sure he doesn't see what he's doing as holding back at all. It's probably a misinterpretation of how perceives his own prophecy."

Keith nodded and turned to walk away but Allura had call him back as much she wanted to allow him to go ahead and get away from her. "Keith?"

He stopped then turned around. "Allura, I don't want to talk, I don't want to be alone with you, I don't want to look at you right now. I don't want to think about the fact I was just asked to hand _my lion_, over to Lance right after I find out he is with the woman who I was under the false impression was my girlfriend. I want to look at these prophecies, about him being the damn King and Liona, speak with Sven and the guys about starting to find the catacombs. And I'm sorry, but I'm going to wake Liona as soon as possible to ask her to pinpoint an exact location. Beyond these things, I want to see as little as possible of you and Lance, understand."

Allura took in a quick breath to help her hold her own tongue. "I need to request to borrow the prophecy about Lance for a moment. Nanny asked to see it. I promised."

Keith sighed and handed it over.

Allura took it carefully, looking at Liona's face so perfectly rendered by the artist and she swallowed. "Also, may I please be the one to ask her to pinpoint the location?"

"No, I rather you show Nanny the prophecy to make her feel better, and talk to Tarus. We don't have time to wait."

"Of course," Allura said.

Keith then turned on his heel again and walked off. Allura sighed, he was angry, he was upset and asking him to allow Lance to fly his lion was making it worse. She closed his eyes and prayed her father had known what he was doing when he'd suggested it. Her father wouldn't have said it if it hadn't been the only way, she knew that. He'd not allowed Keith grab the prophecy that led to the beautiful portrait of her future wedding. She hadn't looked at since that first time, but she could remember the scenes, more than one, of her and Lance before a sunset happier than she'd ever seen him or herself. Keith had been there though - beaming too.

"Please let that prophecy come true," she whispered to herself, to her father's tomb, to any other spirits and the Arusian Gods. She felt a small wave of warmth, that may or may not have been her imagination but Allura took it as a good omen and she started to make her own way out of the catacombs to find Nanny and keep her promise of showing her the prophecy about Lance being the True King of Arus. She knew Nanny wanted to see it to rest more calm that Coran would be saved. She understood perfectly.

~~.~~

Mira watched Liona's restless sleep. She was sure the only reason the poor child was asleep was the sedative she'd talked Liona into allowing the nurse to give her so she could get some rest. Liona looked at her with so much trust, Mira had to keep stopping herself from asking the young Princess how well they knew each other in the future. She never in her life thought she'd be curious about her own future, Mira knew so much about Arus's future and yet so little at the same time. It was a strange way to live, but she knew a lot about Allura's future and Lance's future, even the young girl in front her, though she'd not yet been conceived in the present time.

Mira had felt a sense of security in knowing that her own life would play out to herself like everyone else lived their own lives. She may know about a battle, have a bit of foresight about something dangerous that was about to happen, but other ways she lived to day to day, flying blind and learning as she went with each step. Like everyone else.

Liona spoke to her like she was family, with intense intimacy, then she backed off just as quickly as her mind remembered that Mira wasn't the Mira she knew... And loved? Mira wasn't sure really, but that was her guess. At least Liona could openly talk more about being from the future with Mira, and about how hard it was to see her parents with her. It was hurting the young Princess, especially now that her mission had succeeded. She'd ensured that her father's life wasn't snuffed out before he and her mother got together. Or rather before they wed, Mira thought, but that was the other strange detail.

The Ball was the night Allura and Lance got together in Liona's time. There was as Mira had explained to Allura a strange shift in the timelines. Liona's time should have been affected by Lance and Allura changing things, yet it wasn't... Also in the future Lance and Allura went to, the one Mira was positive Anna was from there had been no Voltcom's, and no knowledge that Lance was the True King. Yet Liona knew he was, and she had the weapon?

Tarus and Ara's voices saying, _Unknown Hand, the Gods of Arus, The Goddess of Time, Mira. There are often changes in the prophecies and the way time changes as it unfolds we can never explain to ourselves, let alone to those we are charged to explain it too. We either omit, or claim that an unknown hand is guiding things to be how they should fall._

Mira sometimes felt she was too logical to have her gift of sight. She wanted to understand better. She believed, she believed in the Goddess of Time, she believed in the Gods of Arus. She prayed, she chanted, she did her meditations. She tried to find the patterns, she tried to figure out what would become the chosen path of Allura and now Lance before they chose it, in case they needed a warning of something ahead of time.

She tried to focus in more on her known fixed points, to try figure out what the timeline would hold once everything was over and everyone was back in their own times. Because Liona was destined to return home, yet Mira had no idea how...she didn't understand the blank spot in her mind. She'd seen her arrival in bits and pieces despite being involved. Why wasn't she seeing the return trip home at all?

The door to her room opened, Mira stood up quickly, drawing the blaster she'd been carrying with her since the attack by Anna. For safety's sake but blushed with embarrassment when she found herself pointing it at Commander Kogane.

He looked at the blaster with baffled eyes, then a slightly amused glance that didn't last for long. Mira wasn't surprised, he wouldn't be in a good mood right now. She had no inkling on his inner feelings, but she knew a bit about how Allura felt about what had happened in his office earlier today. Mira placed the blaster back into its place on her belt. "It's just in case, I felt Allura and Lance would want her protected."

"She is a Princess of Arus, I agree," Keith said, frowning as he looked at Liona.

"Is something wrong."

He held up a large rolled up piece of paper he held. "This is topographic map of the catacomb level under King Alfor's tomb, I was hoping she could pinpoint exactly where the the prophecies we need to locate on the True King are."

"Oh," Mira said. "They just sedated her, she's restless but I'm unsure about allowing you to wake her up."

Keith shot her a look. "Allowing me," he said. "I'm the Captain, and you are?"

"Speaking for the Princess and the King," Mira shot back coolly, knowing it would hurt him but she had her own code.

"The King," Keith shook his head and looked back at Liona. "Care to tell me why they are so attached."

"Allura is attached because she is family, I would think Lance's reasonings are because of Allura's, and the fact she risked her health and her life for him," Mira dissembled, wishing she didn't need to lie.

"You're lying to me."

"I'm omitting, yes."

"Why?"

"Because I have no right to tell you. Nor her, for that matter," Mira said, averting her eyes to the restless Princess on the bed.

"I don't want to know, anyway," Keith said, his head shaking back and forth a few times. Mira couldn't help wondering if he was shaking out the truth before it formed in his mind out his head with it. He was a smart man, Liona's age was telling, her actions as well. It didn't take rocket science but he didn't want to know as he was saying.

"I guess, I'll go by Tarus' guess."

"No. Go by mine," Mira said. "I've seen the room, a few million times, Liona's future is one I see a lot. Allura spends a lot of time with the Prophecies they keep down there, she's the most accurate reader of them, better than us Seers. We See, but we aren't all that great at decoding at times, to be honest," she admitted.

Keith nodded. Mira cleared off the tray table in the room, with the empty plate from Liona's breakfast, the girl at least had a healthy appetite, or had wanted to avoid talking. Standing together, Mira could feel heat waving off of Keith and felt a bit of a shiver from it at the start, his heat against her cooler temperature. It felt like he towered over her, but she knew he was shortest, with the exception of Pidge of the Voltron men but she was small she knew, shorter than Allura by a few inches. She bent over the map, looked inside her memory at the future she knew Liona came from, looking over the catacombs that remain in this time unexplored and untouched.

"Where is Alfor's tomb? Can you tell me?"

"King Alfor would be located above this level about here," Keith's index pointed to a spot on the map where a few feet to the right there was sudden curve to the left. Allura walking down a path that curved to the left, then entering a door to her right shot through Mira's mind, she took the pen from the chart at the end of Liona's bed and circled the spot on the map. "There, it's there. I believe once inside it goes back towards Alfor's tomb, hence the saying it's under him."

"Hmm," Keith nodded. "Thank you," he said and folded the map back up. "That will help," he started to walk away.

"Captain?" Mira called after him.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry if you take this as an intrusion, but it's a side effect of who I am. I want you to understand, I know nothing of how you feel like I do for Allura and to some extent more recently Lance. However, I've been seeing the moment you just lived through and wished you hadn't in my meditations for weeks now. I know you may not actually feel that I am an outside observer, given that my loyalties are to the Throne. However if you want to talk to someone who knows the whole story, without having to tell them anything..."

"No," he said cutting her off.

"Okay."

Keith sighed. "Thank you, for the offer though. I would like you to be the main Seer I deal with on most matters that will involve the Force, however."

Mira frowned. "I do not see battles, Captain."

"Tarus can tell you what he sees?"

"Of course, he can share it even..."

"Then let him share, he holds too much back. I don't... I can tell you will tell me more, and I will be more prepared."

"I can talk to him."

"Allura is planning too, already. I'd still prefer to work with you, Lady Mira."

"Mira."

Keith nodded. "Excuse me, now, I want to start the search for this cavern as soon as possible."

"Of course," Mira nodded. "When I can, I will come to help. Maybe I'll be able to recognize things, or something."

"Fine," he said and he left the room.

_Open your big mouth Mira about knowing about his private life, watch his spine go tighter when you're trying to make him feel better. Foot, mouth._


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter Sixty-seven

Lance couldn't settle. He kept shifting and moving in the command seat of Black lion trying to feel right in the chair but he didn't. He couldn't. There was nothing different from the seat than the seat in Red Lion. But it was Black Lion, it was Keith's seat, his lion, his place. Lance held he key in his hand, he held it up and looked at it. It was shaking, because his hand was shaking, he wasn't comfortable.

He wasn't comfortable with any of this, some peace of mind would've been had if Lance had at least said fly your lion. Fly Red. No, Alfor had said to fly Black. Black...

Yellow used to not budge for him, last time he'd slipped behind the controls to do a favor for Hunk who was working Yellow's insides it had flat out refused to fly to him. Yet he'd felt Yellow's presence, in his head, knowing and there and saying, _It's not personal and it's not time..._

He'd never understood that last comment until recently. Black on the other hand, though Lance had never tried, never the occasion to slip behind the controls of the central lion of Voltron, Lance knew Black would have always flown for him.

Which meant he had no excuses to not try. None, because he not only had no excuses Coran's life rided on the answers, Lance thought wryly. He had to accept that he was the only one who could stop a witch's spell because he was somehow was the chosen King of the planet? The lions? He wasn't quiet sure what decided he was he was the True King, or what _true_ was defined to be in the circumstances.

King. King, he'd never feel easy about. But he would not let Allura down, or Liona her big hazels eyes blinking up at Coran forcing herself to not cry, to not react to him emotionally. To protect herself? The future? Both?

Allura already had a broken heart about Keith, about their mistakes in how they got together, in hurting him and Lance felt more to blame for anything. He'd known all a long they really shouldn't have been left alone any more than she and Keith, he felt like the worse friend in the Galaxy - especially here and now in Black Lion. Allura was already broken, she was nervous and she was distracted about their daughter, about their mistakes, about everything they knew and hadn't told.

He had to give her back Coran. Hell, he needed the old man. He and Coran had been arguing, a lot lately. Probably because Coran wasn't stupid, he was sharp, he was intelligent and he knew Allura. He watched her like a hawk and he watched everything in the Castle more than anyone else. Coran knew more was up wiht Lance and her, all along. Lance sighed, they'd been fighting, they'd been at each other's throats. But...damn if Lance was going to be a damn _King_...on any kind of level. Coran was needed.

Especially to keep Allura smiling... Lance thought and he finally put the key in the Lion and watched it slide, open and fall into place. Black roared into life and Lance held his breath. Hoping the lion wouldn't be too disappointed to not find Keith within it.

He'd closed his eyes because of the unease of feeling he was in the wrong lion was so strong. Lance was trespassing and he expected to be told this in no uncertain terms from Black. Large, strong, looming Black. Static shock sparked in front of his eyes, he could see the blue electric sparks against his lids. He opened his eyes, there was nothing within the cockpit. It was all within him, his connection to black. A low constant hum that felt like a low grade static shock at first but then became steady like breathing, a heartbeat..."Purring?" Lance thought aloud.

_You are a King of Fire. Not of Lightning, why are you here?_

Lance wondered himself. "King Alfor, Black, he said I needed to fly you, to connect to all five of you. I need an answer to a question, it's important."

_You do not yet believe, you have more than one question._

Lance frowned. Maybe he did but he only cared about the one question right now. "I'm only here about, Coran, Black. He's trapped in a witches spell, it's a King spell, it's said only a True King can unlock it."

The electric hum grew from Black, the lion roared again and Lance felt grumbling from the Lion and then came the words. _Yes, I sense the Princess's distress. Yellow senses his own's pain. My Hero, is angry you are here._

"Keith is angry with me, he's got good reasons."

_Yes._

Lance smiled, he liked the agreement, it oddly made him feel better about being in Keith's spot in Black. "So, Black, do you have any advice?"

_King Alfor, said to fly me. Fly me King of Red, Pilot of Fire._

Lance thought and he grinned, he pulled Black off the pedestal on which it perched into the air, getting a feel for how the controls worked and how the lion responded to his touch. He did a few basic, boring maneuvers, then after only about a minute of that he rolled over to much more dangerous, higher level piloting and beelined it over to the canyon. Feeling the weight of Black, and it's swift speed. Also it's reflexes as he purposely played chicken with himself and dove towards objects to evade only at the last possible second.

"Okay, Black, let's see how much Keith's over thinks when he's running you through the canyon," Lance said. He wasn't sure but he thought he heard Black laugh lowly in his head. Fifty-five seconds later when he tied his own highest time in Red, Lance hovered in the air staring at the canyon perplexed, and went to pull up the video he knew was taken of his run from one of the satellites they had around Arus, for long range scans.

_Humans expect things that are not true._ Black spoke before Lance could hit the button.

Lance sat back. "So, I shouldn't expect Black to be faster than Red, though it has been shown to be the faster lion in tests and..."

_All the Lions are the fastest, or the slowest. We are only what our pilots make us. Red is fastest now, because of you. Our mechanics come in third to bond between us and you._

Lance nodded because he was feeling it now, something ancient and without name that had been poured into Voltron and into the Lions, something that was beyond understanding. He'd never understand but he could feel it inside his gut and comprehend it as truth... This was bigger than him. Black was humming now with bright, old, soulful power and it was linked to the pilot, no pilots, of both the past and the future.

Something came up on Lance's radar, Lance moved to look and frowned, it made no sense but he felt the knowledge from Black with the lion having to speak. "Follow the blip, huh," Lance said to himself more than to black.

He found himself on the Southern Hemisphere of Arus, he wondered about the one or two Arusians who had refused to be relocated closer to the Castle on the Northern Continent of Altea where the Castle of Lion's was located. Arus had so few people left, Coran, Allura and they had all felt they could help them, aid them best if they were all in sight, within grasp of the Castle, instead of spread across the Planet, unknown to the Princess. Lance really wondered if they had found all the survivors, he thought of possible other Underground locations now, as he flew over the larger mountain range he'd ever seen in his life and realized he was to land somewhere on the highest peak.

As he maneuvered around the mountain, to come down on the leeward side he saw that their was more than amble ground for him to land on. In fact there was a large round circle of rock with the face of a lion craved into it, with fine lines and obvious craftsmanship. "You've been here before?"

_Once, long ago._

Lance landed and was about to ask Black what next when Black lion, roared and with it literally spat out him of the lion and onto hard, cold dirt. "What the hell?" Lance yelled, after he scrambled to his feet grateful he'd at least had enough time to tuck and roll.

Black's head lower down, Lance found himself staring into yellow eyes that were supposed to be viewports for the pilot but felt more like a cat's mysterious gaze than anything. Black's tail flew up from behind, Lance watched and then jumped inside his own skin as it blasted a hole behind him in the rock face of the mountain.

Lance turned around then and saw that Black had blasted a hole, into a cavern. He looked back at Black but now the lion was perched as it always was on its pedestal when not in the air. It was not going to give him more aid, nor anymore clues...

"But, I'm supposed to be connecting to all five of you," Lance muttered, dug his hands into his leather jacket and walked into the cavern that Black had revealed.

It looked like a cavern. Dark, cold, rocky, and Lance sighed looking around from one spot in the middle. He was irritated, and pissed off it felt like he'd been brought here and was now at a dead end. Allura would be shaking her head at him, though, she'd be shaking her hand and telling him what... "Belive, have faith..." Lance sighed. "You're the King," Lance muttered sarcastically.

"King of Red, you should not speak of your station with such derision. Especially when in your deepest heart we both know you do not feel so," a female voice said. "However, given your resistence is no wonder that the door has not presented itself to you."

Lance spun around, his mouth fell open, and he stared. Before him stood a woman in a black leather, she was dressed for stealth, for a fight, around her waist hanging off a belt was hung what looked to be a long electric whip. But it was none of those things that captured Lance's main attention, it was the long blonde hair and the big blue eyes. But the eyes were too light and the blonde was too dark and the face was too stern...

"Why the fuck do you look like Allura?"

Laughter and it was at him. "You will be a ornery and much loved king, King of Fire. We will all look like Allura, for we are neither male or female, we are the essence of the elements and together the heart of Arus. Between this pole and the other is the core of the planet, and here we can manifest into a solid form. We've chosen the one we felt you will l_isten_ to as you keep resisting who you are."

Okay, so he was in a cold, dark cavern with Black, who was shaped like his girlfriend and there was supposed to be a door. It was his fault there wasn't a door? "So, uh, can you open the door?"

"No," Black said.

Lance grinned bitterly and looked around again, trying to calm down and take everything in. What had been trying to think about when Black had walked in. Allura, she'd want to believe, have faith... Know he was the king, just like Black was saying. He started to shake his head the second the thought occurred to him because it was absurd.

_Is not_. He heard Allura, arguing with him like she did every time but he never could believe her because it was crazy. He'd never asked her why she didn't find absurd... He kicked some stones, he didn't think Black was about help him out here. He started to pace, the image of Coran pasty and looking fifteen years older than he was hanging in the air in the ballroom. Allura and his future daughter's faces at seeing a man they loved, a guardian, a nurturing presence. He'd raised Allura...

Mira had nearly outed Lance to Coran, enough, she'd kept it to the Lions, mentioned Arus, Coran must have wondered he had to know about Arusian True Kings. He'd made Lance prove it, how had it all clicked into place...

He'd been in battle mode when it'd happened in the future, how the power was awoken, it awoke and it didn't die because it'd always been there, dormant, lurking, connecting deeply with Red in way he could never formulate and felt the others didn't understand. Even if they did know and care for their own lions. He bent down and picked up the rock he was holding, Yellow would fly for now, Green wouldn't allow him only too grudgingly. He was the King, they'd all let him step inside. He went to throw the rock only to stop short as rock started to fall away from the cavern wall he was going to aim for, revealing a door.

"You have to open it," Black lion said walking over to it and standing straight, beside it waiting for him.

Lance stood where he was a moment longer, trying to catch his breath. A second of acceptance, he wondered if he'd ever get to two? He walked over and took the knob in his hand and it didn't budge. Of course. He eyed, Black.

Black's face remained impassive, no expression, just a sense of ancient wisdom behind eyes that were three shades too light to belong on a face that looked like Allura's. Then again Allura's face was all expression, Lance looked back at the door, fiddled with the knob and muttered. "Open, already will you, I get it's probably been a while but I'm in a hurry. Open!" he said and he went to put his shoulder into it but the door suddenly gave on it's old hinges and swung open.

There were stairs leading down, into nothing but darkness. Black walked in beside and him. "Let me light the way," Black said, taking the electric whip and flinging it down the stairs and torches lit up as far Lance could see. Which was all stairs. "How far down does this go?"

"That is answer I do not have," Black said.

Lance started walking, he felt Black behind him, steps heavier than the lighter its form of Allura would imply. Lance felt the same static charge he felt from within in the lion, against the back of his neck and spine. Twenty minutes later they ran out of light, Lance paused and Black stepped ahead and shot the whip down the stairs, this time when the torches lit Lance could see another door at the end of the stairs. His steps quickened, being able to see the goal and he thought towards the door, "You better open you damn door," the entire time and then he put his hand on the knob and twisted it and pushed it open.

He stepped into a round room, with dark hard floor, volcanic rock it looked like and before him stood four other versions of Allura. In yellow, green, blue and red.

Black walked passed him and the five of them formed a circle, and Lance saw there was a spot in the center of the circle that held a symbol. He took a breath and walked over toward it, stopping short of standing on it, he looked down at it. He recognized as Ancient Arusian, he could guess at what it said, he looked up at Black with the question on his face.

"You must stand on it, King of Red," Black said in answer.

Lance couldn't. "Just tell me how to help Coran?"

"He is being aided, I can feel his gratefulness despite his pain. You must step on the symbol, my King," Yellow spoke.

Lance turned to face Yellow, who looked much more like his Allura than Black. Tumbling long curls of blonde, much longer though, in a gown, he blinked a few times though as his eyes traveled her form. "Are you pregnant?"

"I am what I felt would best represent female earth to you," Yellow said softly. "You care for Coran, as we care for all of Arus. It's earth, dirt, rock and mountains are mine and yours."

Lance sighed. "They belong to the people of Arus."

"Sounds like a King to me," Lance turned because it sounded so much like Allura and he blinked. Blue t-shirt, blue pants, pony-tail. If he didn't know Allura was in the Castle. "Blue?"

Blue broke from the circle, Black made a rumbling sound that was out of sync with its current form but Blue rumbled straight back, Lance waited them out. Blue walked up to him and she circled around him. "The Princess, our Queen she has grown up rapidly since she took my controls. Since she and I finally met as was destined to be for centuries, my truest pilot... She and I water spirits, of instinct and empathy." Blue stopped in front of him and met his eyes. Blue seemed to grow, taller, bigger, the simple attire became armor and he was looking into the fierce eyes of a creature of knowledge, ancient wisdom and thought he felt compassion he heard the threat too when she spoke her last words.

"Are you worthy, Lance Charles McClain?"


	68. Chapter 68

Lance almost staggered backward, catching himself in time so he didn't step on the symbol, they wanted him to walk onto. No, what they wanted was for him to claim it. Take on the mantle, the name, everything that came with being the _True King of Arus._ He couldn't claim it, not yet. Lance couldn't read the Ancient Arusian but he sensed what the symbols meant and he wasn't ready to accept them as truth. Maybe someday he would have no choice maybe he couldn't run away from the prophecies. He did know one thing, he would not stumble on to it by some trick of by a Lion. Even if It was as beautiful, and almost as perfect as Allura.

"No," he said, standing straight and staring Blue right in her Blue-blue Allura perfect eyes. "No man in his right-mind would ever feel worthy of Allura, or of Arus."

He heard laughter, cackling and loud and turned to see Red clearly for the first time. In a tiny red dress, wild strawberry blonde curls and a wicked smile on her face. As their gazes met Red winked at him, but it was another voice that spoke.

"I think that's wise."

Blue huffed out a small catlike sound, it hit Lance's neck and made him turn back to her. She was studying him, head cocked to the side, but he couldn't tell if he failed or not. He wasn't sure if mattered yet, anyway. Lance turned toward Green, knowing It was the one who had called him wise. Crazy Lion.

"What?" Lance said to Green, as Blue took her place in the circle around them. He took in Green's look and saw It was a younger Allura, her hair looked messy in a windswept way, and she wore a green sundress with barefeet and her expression was playful except for her eyes. Her eyes held wisdom and age, that far surpassed his own and almost everything else in the cavern except for that of the other Lions'.

"I said, your answer was wise. Why go careening into something when it might be wiser to tease the leaves first, before tearing them free from the branches... Arus is an old and ancient planet. Many secrets and many things to learn and protect," Green Lion, paused. "You will never know them all."

Lance felt a chill go down as his spine as if a cold wind had just blasted through him. Was Green Lion even talking about what Blue had asked him, it was on his tip of his tongue to ask, to bring up Coran again when Red Lion spoke.

"It's bullshit," Red said.

Lance turned.

Red stared at him. "You aren't wise. You don't even think you unworthy. You're just being a coward," Red walked forward, the heels of red leather thigh high boots making flaming sparks against the volcanic surface with each measured stride. Red stopped short, putting the symbol between them. "I dare you to read it, _My King_." Red's phrasing of King dripped with sarcasm.

"You. Are. Mocking me?" Lance asked, amazed. He'd somehow thought he'd have one advocate, one friend down in the dark, drafty cavern. One place to turn for some warmth. Metaphorically and literally. if any Lion were to be on his side. He stared at It, not all surprised by the sexual representation of Allura. That he'd expected from his Red, It's fire, it's blazing tenacity, they were alike he and his Red. Why was It challenging him. It was the way It was speaking to him. His Lion, Red, he knew It could burn with hit's white hot fire, and leave you cold its wake but It kept him warm with Its fire and flame. Red was one of the rare places he felt warm inside to out anywhere in the Galaxy. Red was now burning him with its gaze of sapphire eyes, full of challenge and a fury.

"Why shouldn't I? Ever since you learned about who you really are you've derided yourself, saying you aren't worth the title, aren't worth the fuss. You aren't anybody. YOU! You disregarded it, laughed at yourself, at it, and tossed the words aside as if they mean nothing. But they do, the words mean everything. I know you know this. I know you hear this planet crying, and you say you love Her, Love Arus, as we do, as we always have. I see you protect Arus, I see you willing to die to protect her as a pilot. Why can't you say you will do it as a King. As Her King. You would fight to the death for Allura, and still claim with your dying breath you are unworthy? You act insecure, you even put down the one thing you know you are best at in the same breathe... 'I'm just a pilot' You keep saying you are nothing. But it is unfounded, it is untrue. I don't know where you put your Courage, where you put your Heart. Or your Soul. I didn't know you knew HOW to hesitate, for you never have in Battle. Or in flight...In battle you fly. There you remember. You remember you are the best of the best. You are the only one who can weave and curve when others pause and hold their breathes. You speed up when they slow down, you dive and they scream. You know you are best.

You never tease any leaves, you blast them off their trees, you speed by obstacles that make mere pilots pause. The King of Arus has to Be. I don't think you should step on the King Stone, until you stop being the scared chicken I don't recognize. Because, no, I, Red, don't think it's wise for you not to be cocky and self assured. You're a King of Fire. BE WHO YOU ARE!" Red's roar filled the chambered and echoed off the walls.

Lance couldn't take his eyes off of Red.

Red grabbed his face in Its hands and made him look down at the symbol and said again voice a bear whisper after the deafening roar, "I dare you to read it." Red smiled, then a wicked, mysterious smile before stepping back into Its place in the circle.

Silence fell.

Lance heard only his own breathe. It echoed in the cavern. He stared at the symbol, Ancient Arusian, he thought about Coran, Allura, Liona, Keith... Arus. The only place where his restlessness felt any sort of serenity. Red's words screamed in his head. He thought about how he flew, how he'd always flown, from the day he'd first wrapped his hands around the stick of an aircraft.

Fearless, straight ahead, no looking back, no thinking he'd fail.

He'd pulled that confidence out of the cockpit and brought it with him to everything else in his life, everything. Hand to hand, strategy, dating, sex, but he'd lost confidence in a few things along the way. He'd been second best for so long in everything, even had to go along with a mockery of being second best in flight due to an douche of instructor...

His hands fell to the pilot wings, Graham had recently honored him with. He closed his eyes and when he opened them the Arusian words were clear and familiar. Lance stepped forward, no more hesitating, no more thinking he couldn't do it, he was simply going to be who he was and said, "King of Fire, Lance Charles McClain, True King, the 13th." He read what was on the stone, he wondered at how it could be written on the stone but there it was and there he was. And now it was...

As his feet settled on the stone and the last syllable fell from his lips, an energy flew out from each lion and into him, light, water, sand, wind, and fire. He felt all the elements of Arus, coiling together and becoming even a bigger part of him. He felt the planet moving when it was over, rotating and circling the sun, it was minute but there. He could feel trees, the water, the earth and every active volcano, especially all the volcanos. And the fire in the center of Arus' core the life source of the whole planet.

"Wow," he said, even as he mind thought the word he thought it was an understatement of how heightened his senses had become about Arus. He could feel a planet, everything that made Arus more than a floating piece of rock was known to him now in a sentient mystical, bizarre way. But Lance knew no other word for it all. He also had something much more pressing to deal with than to stand and drink in the awesome fantasy of it all. He looked at Black and he said. "How do I save Coran?"

Black looked back at him asked, "How did you open the door?"

Then Alfor's voice came to him in a memory, _Also, I will stress this, trust your instincts, sometimes the crazy, simple things have a grain of truth because they are what is best_. Lance swore, he swore and turned around and started running up the stairs and yelled. "Black, you better damn well be back in your Lion when I get to it."

~~.~~

Lance was shocked when he entered the control room and random guard was on duty, there wasn't anyone of the team on sight. "Where is everyone," he yelled as he ran out of doors.

"Catacombs, sir, Captain Kogane wanted to look for the prophecies concerning, uh... well King Spells," the guard stuttered. "Is it true, sir?"

Lance nodded at the guard. "It is," he said. "I'm the King. Contact the medical wing, I want Gorma to go the ballroom, I'm going to go wake up Coran."

"Now?"

"Now, don't bother them down in the catacombs. If this doesn't work I don't want to upset the Princess," Lance said, and then he walked out of the control room. Forcing himself not to shake his head about him being the King.

He pushed open the doors to the Ballroom, Tarus stood talking with a few of the adminstration staff who were waiting for the next shift to start in aiding Coran to keep his mind off the bad memories Anna had locked him in. Lance saw Ara, in the middle of the circle, hands reaching up, centering everyone. She never seemed to take a break, or break a sweat. He and Allura would owe her a lot when this over, he thought, she did more than anyone to help Coran, that was for sure.

His eyes then fell on Nanny who was in standing in the circle, holding hands with two maids and looking up at Coran with a look of pure and utter fear and worry. He couldn't help but think she couldn't be helping, he grabbed the nearest staff member and walked them over to the circle. "I think Nanny needs a break," he muttered and switched them out.

Nanny went without a complaint, which worried Lance, he walked over to a chair and nodded to someone who mouthed 'tea' at him. He kneeled down in front of her. "Hey. Uh," he pushed aside the hesitation, he wasn't going to hedge on it anymore. He couldn't, it was all way to real now, he could feel energy in the damn air in the ballroom...still air but it still held a power waiting for something to harness it. It kept them breathing, he thought, he grabbed Nanny's hand. "I'm waiting for Gorma, then I'm going to snap him out of it. I know how now."

Nanny sprung to life on, her hand squeezed his so hard it hurt. Her brown eyes bore into, hard and fast. She stared. "Allura showed me the prophecy. Your face, after King Alfor's. On the paper held sacred, written and drawn in the and of Altea. I've seen her prophecies before. It is truth and you know now?"

"I spoke with the Lions, I stopped being a..." Lance searched for a word Nanny wouldn't threaten to wash his mouth out with soap for. "I stopped being..."

"Don't you say one of those crass words of yours, you are the King of Arus now, you must start to behave more like a gentleman. Oh, what am I going to do with you. You will insist on still being a barbarian won't you."

Lance grinned.

Nanny looked at Coran. "You are sure you know what to do?"

"Yes. It's rather simple actually, I shouldn't have doubted my first instincts."

The doors opened and Gorma walked in, with a few other medics and a stretcher. Lance stood up but Nanny still had his hand hostage. He waited, as Nanny looked between him and her. "Ach, you be gentle with him."

"I will."

Lance walked over to Gorma. "Okay, what I want to do is grab him by his ankle and pull him down. I think once I get him out whatever field/spell whatever is keeping hanging in the air, it should be easy to lay him on the stretcher and wake him up."

"We've tried pulling, it sparks, I'm worried it may be like the electric spark spell that overtook all those helping out those hurt during the battle. It had similar qualities, why I stopped people from trying to get him down so quickly in the first place."

Lance nodded, he hadn't known that but he wasn't all that surprised. "I don't think I'll have an issue."

Gorma looked at him and nodded. "Go then, go to it."

Lance turned, he felt everyone eyes on him, he knew for a lot of them this was going to decide something that was going to change how they looked at them. He really hoped it wouldn't feel too weird, to have people looking at him like he was... no he was the King, he wasn't any different than he was now though. That was really the point though wasn't it. He was more connected, he got a few things more clearly but being the _True King of Arus_, changed absolutely nothing about who he was. At all.

He was still Lance, pilot, guy in love with Allura, smartass, and now he happened to know that their would be a wind storm later that night, that was about the only difference. He grabbed onto Coran's ankle and he tugged hard. There was a bright violent spark and then nothing, and Lance had Coran in his arms and with the help of the medics they had him on the stretcher in no time. Gorma started to check his vitals. Lance grabbed Coran's right hand, felt his pulse under his fingers, then put Coran's hand on his heart and bent down and said straight into Coran's ear.

"Coran, open up your eyes, time to get up, we have work for you do you know. This Castle goes to shambles without you. Snap out of it."

Coran bolted up right, eyes blinking, Nanny screamed and attacked him in a hug, which seemed to knock Coran's breath right out him as he started to cough. Lance pulled his hand free and shook his head. "Nanny, let him breath and get his bearings," he muttered.

Which was a mistake because then he had a Nanny attached to himself and damn the woman knew how to break lungs. She was weeping, getting tear stains all over his leather jacket and going. "Yes, yes, you saved him, he's back, oh you must go get the Princess... Thank you!"

"Nanny, can't breathe," Lance managed to spit out.

She finally let go of him, then went to hover over Coran. Lance walked over to Dr. Gorma. "How is he?" he asked.

Gorma looked up from, checking Coran's pulse. "In remarkably good health, considering how long he's been up there. It seems he was in some sort of stasis. So the spell kept him in good health, probably to draw out the torment..." Gorma glanced at Coran, who was trying to get Nanny to slow down. "It will be his emotional state, I will be the most concerned with...uh, King."

"Lance," Lance said. "Just keep calling me Lance, or Commander McClain, I'm not quite sure exactly how the title I have works within the... I know squat."

Gorma chuckled. "I recall reading once in school about the time there was a Crown King of Arus and a True King Arus, it was quite the dilemma, I can't recall how it was dealt with...I never did like History class."

"King Aramus, and True King Lylus," Coran said from his stretcher. "Those are the Kings, Gorma. Lylus was sixteen when the gift was discovered, he was a cousin to Aramus, not even in line for the throne. It threw the family for quite a loop, they were expecting one of Aramus' future children to turn out to be the King of prophecy."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Coran, you just came out a King spell, rest will you," he shook his head. "I'm going to go find Allura. He turned and walked over to Tarus, who was still standing on the fringes of everything, but now with his wife.

Lance met Ara's eyes, they hadn't been introduced yet, he'd spent no time talking to her but he felt pretty damn beholden to her right now. He took her hand and pulled a Keith and kissed it. "Thank you, doesn't seem as if you took a break at all."

"Meditation, and practice. This is something a Seer trains for, it's rare to get to use the training, especially these days," she said.

Lance sighed, he knew what she meant about these days. The Castle, though he and Keith were keeping it quiet was getting threats about allowing Seers to be part of society again. People weren't happy Allura was trusting them again, but he hoped hearing about what had occured and how they'd helped such a revered citizen such as Coran may help. He wasn't going to hold his breath though. "Allura is in the catacombs?"

"Yes, they wanted to find the prophecies as soon as possible. Even with the possibility you'd come back with the way, they all felt it was best to find the prophecies of the True King and whatever else may be in those caves. I offered to go with them, but Captain Kogane preferred that Lady Mira go with them instead."

Lance nodded. "Could you give me hint of where to go?"

"I'll take you myself," Tarus said.

"Great," Lance said, not entirely sure he wanted the elder seer with him. The guy reminded him of a wizard, old, grey, ancient and knowing. He saw things... Lance rolled his eyes at himself. He knew why Keith preferred Mira, but also knowing their future he wondered if that preference is what would lead them to grow closer. Lance could only hope it would happen quickly, maybe then he and his best friend could safe their friendship. Otherwise, he didn't know exactly how things were going to work out. Keith was angry and Lance hated it but choices were made that made it impossible for him not to get hurt. Lance hated that Allura was hurting though, he wasn't happy about that at all.

"You've accepted your place."

"My place? I guess you could call it that. I was reminded I don't hesitate."

Tarus nodded. "A King of Fire, for when their is war. It's apt."

Lance felt a chill go down his spine, and he knew he couldn't blame the drafts in the caverns. "Tarus?" he stopped.

"I am a Seer of Battles, King of Fire. I wanted to remind you of this. Mira will be your Guide. She is the Seer of You and Allura. Of your Family. But I am of Battle. Ara and the others are moments, things, their strengths will come and go. Mira and I are most important instruments. But I wanted to stress one thing to you. You, the Hero and the Queen. You must become a strong the strong Trio you were, so you can become the stronger Trio you are meant to be. Voltron Force is meant to grown, expand, but it's leadership is integral. It's leadership is of Three."

"You do realize that the three of us..."

"Are in shatters. The next time you see him, remind him who you are. That is all. You can find your way from here, just ask the wind..." Tarus said and then turned around.

Lance rolled his eyes. Remind Keith of who he was, how was he supposed to do that? He sighed, put his hands in his pockets, his left fell around Keith's key to Black and he knew the first thing he really had to do was return it. Return it and fast. The wind whistled by his ears, before he could even think to wonder how to ask it, he heard Allura and Mira's voices, Pidge's handheld beeping device carried on it...he laughed and thanked the drafts in the catacombs and went in the direction the sound had been carried from.


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter Sixty-nine

Liona woke up to a room lit with sunshine, and a body that didn't ache at all. She sat up in her bed and was surprised to find no one was in her room. The door was open and she could see the nurses station clearly. She saw two of them working, talking to one another and realized her door was open so they could look in. They kept her checked on, and it wasn't distrust, because Keith Kogane wasn't behind the orders to keep her company. it was Lance and Allura. Liona felt her heart tug at her but she pushed it away. She knew they didn't know who she was, she knew their minds would never dare guess at who she was - even if they suspected because who would let their mind go there? It was as ridiculous as the thought of time travel. Besides there was something else bothering her, homesickness wasn't issue right now. She hadn't woken up because she missed her brother and all his annoying habits. Liona had woken, alert and on edge because something was really wrong.

Her skin itched. She looked at her wrist, where she could see the skin around the time travel device it was all patchy and red, it went up to her elbow and she knew it looked the same on her other arm under her voltcom. It itched, it and told her something was off... Liona looked around her room, she took in every detail and she wondered at the fact Mira was gone. She had told Liona she was there until Allura or Lance decided to return, she had asked them to leave but they would come back, that was a given. So why was Mira gone? Where had she gone? Had she _seen_ something?

Liona pushed the sheets off of her, she swung her legs to the floor and was about to stand up when a nurse ran into the room. "Get back in that bed, right now, Princess or not, you have more healing to do, Princess. You were badly injured in the fight and from what I have heard before it. Lay back down," the nurse was suddenly checking all her vitals. "Now what is wrong, what do you need?"

Liona resisted the urge to tell the woman to go away and let her be. "Where is Lady Mira?"

The nurse flinched at Mira's name but quickly gain control of her features. "I'm sorry," she said, "Not used to the Seers yet," she explained. "I believe she and Captain Kogane left your room about an hour ago."

"An hour ago? Captain Kogane? Why was he here?"

"He said it was urgent, otherwise I do not know. We weren't about to deny the Captain of the Voltron Force entry to your room, though."

It made sense, Keith had about as much power as her father in the Castle. She smiled a bit recalling her father joking a time a two that he had more power than he did within the Castle walls. It was ridiculous, everyone knew that, but it was close. Here and now, she thought her uncle probably did have more. She frowned though, he and Mira seemed to barely know each other, he was dating her mother... so he hadn't come here to take Mira on a date or something. "Do you know where they went?" she asked.

The nurse gave a slight smile but then shook her head. "Of course not, he's the Captain and she's a Seer, it'd be none of my business."

Liona shook her head at the nurse. "Come one, gossip is the bread and butter of a Castle, everyone knows that..." she smiled. "Please, what is the story, where do people think he is right now, what is he doing?"

"You're rather young..."

"Please, I need to know where Lady Mira went, please?" Liona put on her best scared plus concerned face, and her bulletproof cajoling tone. "It's important."

"Well, there is a lot of juicy gossip today. The newspaper broke this huge story. Princess Allura has apparently been dating Commander McClain behind Captain Kogane's back."

Liona felt surprised, they would never do that, they'd come to clean to Uncle Keith before they'd done anything. It'd been awful and messy, but they wouldn't have... yet she'd seen them. She'd seen them sneaking around, she'd seen them kissing. Why was she surprised, because it wasn't her parents the nurse was talking about she told herself. Yet... They were. She swallowed and tried to focus. "It's a horrible scandal if it's true. For one thing, no woman should be dating a man without a chaperone, and Commander McClain was Princess Allura's and Captain Kogane, and she was known to be dating him. Arusian woman are to only date one man at a time."

Liona almost laughed, that was absurd, that couldn't be true. "What?" she asked.

"Of course you know that... I know," the nurse said not seeming to pick up her confusion. "But the other rumor is what really has me in a tizzy. Have you heard about the True Kings?"

"Of course. The True Kings, are the Kings of Arus that the planet itself bonds with, speaks too and they are the Kings that will shape the future of Arus to be the brightest and truest. They will make the best decisions because they will truly be speaking for not only the people but the soul of the planet itself," Liona recited.

"Exactly. Rumor has it that Commander McClain is a True King. It's so crazy, but rumor is he's off right now in Black Lion, to commune with the planet to find a way to save Coran, while the others look for some cave that is said to hold the prophecies of the True Kings."

The cave. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, the itchiness on her arms flared up to feel almost like a burn. Mira, Keith, her mother... who knew who else were in the cave. They were looking for the entrance to the cavern, she'd told them about it, but she hadn't told them everything. She hadn't told them how dangerous it was to go down there, walking about and poking their fingers into any hole. It was too dangerous, the story she had heard, the history of the day it'd been found. A shudder ran through Liona's body and she started to try to get out of the bed again.

The nurse started to push her back in but something distracted her. The other nurse yelled from the station. "Lila, hurry up, we need to get room 1189 ready for Advisor Coran. I can't believe this, Remus just called up, he said he was with Dr. Gorma when Lance McClain pulled him out of the spell. Out of that King's Spell... They are bringing him right up here and we have to have it perfect, Nanny is coming with him... come on."

The nurse just ran right out, muttering, "Lance McClain is our King, thank the gods Coran is okay, Lance McClain is the True King?"

Liona seethed. "He's your damn king all right, stupid bit," she thought, getting out of the bed, letting her mind go to Coran for one minute and feel a swell of joy that he was okay, that he was out of that horrible spell. She hadn't been able to stand looking at him in that ballroom without feeling like she was breaking in too. He was her grandfather, it wasn't by blood but it was real. But he was safe, it was the others who weren't and now she was worried about her father. If he'd saved Coran, he'd go down to tell the others, he wasn't with the people coming with Coran up to the hospital wing.

She was thankful she was wearing pajamas that were leggings and a top, and not some horrible hospital gown. Thank goodness for her mother - or Princess Allura. She just opened the closet and found her boots, she quickly got them on, then tested her Voltcom, just to be sure. It was fine and it made that arm itch less to know she had something she could use to help... if she wasn't too late.

Liona wouldn't be itching if she didn't have time to stop it, she knew that much. All she had to do was hurry and make sure nothing bad happened to anyone of her family. All of whom alive in this present except for Coran and Nanny where down in those caves. A lump formed in her throat and she started to run, ignoring the fact the exertion reminded her body it was injured.

~~.~~

Lance rounded a corner and his eyes fell on Allura first. She was standing with Pidge, looking at his hand held computer as he explained that he wasn't reading anything behind any of the cavern walls around them to Pidge, Hunk and Keith. Allura shook her head at this words, then she looked up but whatever she was going to say was lost because she saw him.

"Lance?"

"Hey," he said.

"You're back."

"I am," he said and he pulled the key to Black out of his pocket and crossed the room. Keith was standing back, further back than everyone so he passed them all, including Mira who'd been standing in the middle. Lance wondered if she'd ended up being go-between between Keith and Allura. Holding in the sadness that made him feel he held out the key.

"You weren't gone long," Keith said, snatching the key back.

"Over an hour," Lance said.

"Did you?" Allura asked from behind him.

Lance turned to look at her and he grinned, nodded. "He's fine."

"Whoa, you mean you pulled Coran out of it?" Hunk asked.

Lance nodded. "I figured out what I had to do."

"What was that?" Pidge asked.

"Believe," Lance said, catching Allura's gaze.

"You saved him."

Lance nodded.

Allura lunged at him with a hard hug. "I knew you would," she cried out, burying her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her scent and loving the weight of her, but he forced himself to put her back on her own two feet and not to kiss her senseless. _I want to kiss you senseless._

She blushed as she gazed up at him, _Then why aren't you?_ She asked, with a gleam in her blue eyes, tempting him so badly.

_ Allura, _He said, eyes going to the side, though they really meant to look behind him. Allura came back to herself then, where they were, who they were with.

"We should go up," she said.

Lance shook his head. "Gorma is going to be running tests on him, Nanny is hovering, tell me what is going on here."

"Nothing," Keith muttered from behind him. Lance turned and watched Keith walk over to a cavern wall. "Pidge isn't finding any sign of anything behind these walls but rock."

"I have adjusted for everything. Are you sure this is where the cavern is, we're after that sharp turn, were not really under Alfor's tomb however."

"This is where the door is," Mira said. "In my visions of the future, this is where the door is, I've seen Allura walk it a million times."

"I feel something here," Allura said, walking a few steps toward where Keith stood. "There is something..."

Lance followed Allura, he looked at the wall, it was bright to him. The catacombs were a whole new world to him. Dark, drafty and cold as always but the rocks, he knew each individual one, he saw them all in their own spectrum of color, brightness and there was something behind the granite surface Keith, he and Allura were facing. But it was a thick wall between them and what they were facing, thick and unyielding, it wouldn't simply fall to pieces, but not thick enough for Pidge to not see it.

"Pidge are you adjusting for how thick the cavern walls granite is?" Lance asked.

"What?"

"The granite, the main rock of the catacombs, it's dense, thick, rock, it's hard, thick, it doesn't form in thin shards, it forms in really thick hard... it's thick. I don't know the geological terms. But the there is something behind this wall, right here but I doubt it will simply fall to pieces... Oh crap!"

He'd pointed as he'd said fall to pieces and the wall started to do just that, He pulled Allura back, Keith walked backward and ended up standing on Lance's other side. Everyone watched as the wall fell apart in a perfect square and revealed a door, Lance let out a breath and rolled his eyes. "Figures, this again."

"That was amazing!" Pidge said, "The entire elemental composition of the granite completely changed when Lance spoke and pointed. Was it the point or the words, what did you do exactly."

"I think it was what I was visualizing to be honest, I just didn't think it would really happen, not again... well not that _this_ happened to me today already. But something like it a few times. It's complicated. It's a King thing."

Allura nudged him with her elbow. "King thing, that was very casual," she said.

Lance grinned. "Yeah well, a certain Red Lion reminded me of something."

"What's that?"

"I'm a cocky bastard," he said with a wink.

Allura studied him.

Keith started to walk to the door. "Will it open."

"I don't know if it's locked," Lance said.

Keith turned the knob and it opened, he stepped inside, Lance and Allura followed him, with Mira, Pidge and Hunk behind them. Inside was a large room, with shelves and pedestals, it seemed to go on for miles and it headed back towards where above Alfor's tomb lay, answering the question Pidge had brought up earlier.

"It's a library," Allura said.

Lance looked around, something was off, he felt the hair on the back of his neck. "Keith, I think we should step back a minute. Mira? You getting anything?"

"No, I'm here, I can't..." Mira said. "But I feel something, I think..."

"It's all so old," Allura whispered, and Lance saw she was entranced by the scrolls, the paintings, the sheer volume of the find, and how far back it seemed to go.

"Keith," he said again.

Keith turned to look at him, he'd walked up two steps, toward a pedetal that held a unfurled scroll, that was placed right in sight of the door. "I feel something too, but this place is old, ancient, no one has set foot here for ages, Lance. It's probably you're spooked."

Lance shook his head, this wasn't him spooked out but he didn't know if he could get that across to Keith now in words, if Keith could hear him. Tarus's words before he came down here came back to him. He kept his gaze on Keith and decided if he could talk to Sven telepathically it'd be a piece of cake to talk to Keith. Even a Keith who didn't want to forgive him, who wanted to stay angry with him.

_Keith the hair on the back of my neck is up, there is something wrong here. We need to step back._

Keith shook his head and he turned back to the scroll he was walking toward, he reached out and he touched it just as Lance heard new footsteps enter the room.

"No! No! Not you!" Liona screamed, then she ran tackling Keith to the ground, one second before a barrage of arrows came screaming into the air out of nowhere. Allura had to pull Mira out of their way, they heard creaking, and Lance felt heat before he saw a flash.

"Get out before the fire bolts start!" Liona shouted from the floor, just from above her and Keith there was a sound of grinding. Fire bolts started to shoot randomly throughout the room, Allura, Lance, Pidge and Hunk had to stay down, but Lance noticed they didn't hit any of the archives the cavern was protecting. He looked up at what was above Liona and Keith, who still couldn't move because the arrows never ceased. A round hole appeared and electricity started to build up in its center.

"NO!" Allura cried as he thought the same thing.

Liona grabbed onto Keith.

The bolt of electricity shot down, Lance and Allura both screamed, "Liona!" Hunk and Pidge, called out for Keith. Yet what they saw wasn't Keith and Liona get hit by the electricity. What they saw was Keith and Liona vanish into nothingness as Liona hit the button on the device on her left wrist seconds before the bolt of electricity made contact.

~~.~~

Keith stopped cringing when he realized the electricity hadn't fried him and Liona alive. He blinked the cavern was bright, the walls white, the floor an intricate marble of off white with small blue flowers in the center. No dust, no draft, nothing. He stood up slowly, Liona was glancing around. "New art," she said.

"What did you do?" Keith asked thinking he knew the answer but he wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.

"I sent us 375 years into the future."

Keith closed his eyes, he took a few cleansing breathes and then he opened them and stared at her. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because the timeline I'm from, the archeologist who set off the alarm the Ancient Arusians set to protect the Prophecies of The True Kings and Voltron, died the bolt of lightning I just made sure didn't hit us! Captain."

Keith shuddered and looked up.

"Oh, there is a more sophisticated system in place now I am sure," she started toward the door. Keith noticed she was walking stiffly and remembered she shouldn't even be out of the hospital wing.

"You should be in bed."

"You should be dead."

Keith sighed. "Liona?"

She paused before walking out of the room, giving him an impatient stare.

"Thank you, though being in the future not really..."

"The tech came from here, I'm sure they can get us both back to where we belong," Liona said.

Keith nodded. She was right. Lance had been right and he'd have never doubted Lance's gut instinct before in his life, not in a situation as unknown as that cavern. But he had seconds before and it almost cost him his life, and now he owed her, the Princess from out of time for saving him. And possibly sticking him the future. He felt lost, out of sorts, he didn't know who the hell he was anymore. He stepped out of the room and was surprised to find not the rocky catacomb hallway he'd expected but a marbled floor and gray painted walls; they still curved and gave way they were natural formations but they'd been made a part of the Castle.

"Fancy," Liona muttered as she started walking up towards the Castle.

Keith couldn't help but not and he wondered what other changes awaited him. He paused. "We should be cautious, we don't know who we'll find in the Castle."

Liona glared at him. "Anna was trying to kill Lance McClain, we'll find McClains. Descendants of the True King. They're allies."

Keith frowned. "You said yourself, we weren't going by your timeline, who says this is the same as it was when Anna left."

Liona continued to glare but then she frowned. "But..."

Keith nodded. "We go in cautious, we make sure we can trust who ever is in rule, understood."

Liona sighed. "Fine."

Keith felt better now that he'd established control. there were way to many unknown variables going into this. He didn't know what to think, or how many of Anna's followers this future Arus dealt with. He stepped in front of Liona and started walking. "Coming Cadet?" he said, taking note of her pale skin and he hoped she hadn't pulled any stitches.

All he got in response was fiery glare and her nipping on his heels for next ten minutes of walking. Liona was a fighter, a survivor and she definitely deserved the honor of being part of the Voltron Force. Keith's problem with her wasn't her abilities. It was her, there was something in the set of her jaw, there was an something behind her eyes that he couldn't define but felt familiar. It unsettled him, it unsettled him even more than the fact she knew him when he didn't know her. No one knew him, who didn't allow to him. All his life, Keith had been choosy about who he let in, yet this young girl, this Arusian Princess from the future, knew him too well. He felt like he'd lost his way, he wasn't sure of who was and there was this stranger who knew him too well and could push his buttons. Buttons he hid, and only a few knew how to push. Keith didn't like it, he hated it, he wanted it over with. He needed this dealt with. He needed the people in the Castle to be trustworthy, so they could send her back to her time and him to his. So life could get straightened out.


	70. Chapter 70

**_Notes_**: Anon, thank you for the comments :-). Second Holy Exposition Batman, lots of it just chapter, silly plot details. And yeah, kind of silly but then I'll get back to the character angst and fun. So, thank you for dealing with me, and reading my wacky time travel hijinks!

Chapter Seventy

He pushed opened the door that led to one of the foyers in the Castle, it led to many different doors, or one of the side stairwells. In his own time the stone walls were empty of adornment. The Castle had minimum treasure left to show off and all of it was kept in one room that Coran called the Treasure room. Sometimes paintings taking out to placed in the Ballroom or Dinning Hall when they had important guests. Here in the future it seemed Arus had ample treasure. The walls were covered in paintings, but Keith only saw the one. The first one he laid his eyes on, facing the door he'd opened. A simple family portrait but it made Keith's entire world fall on its axis, and he staggered a bit on his feet stepping forward, toward the painting against his will to study it closer.

Liona hurried forward, grabbing him by the shoulder. "What is it?"

It was a nightmare. Logically he knew he and Allura were over and that the root cause was that she didn't love him - wasn't in love with him. Rationally, he knew as much as he was fighting against it, he would've come to the same conclusion as Allura himself, if she hadn't first. They weren't in love. Yet, she'd reached that point first, because she'd fallen in love with someone else and that someone else had been Lance. His brain had issues with that fact. It got to that part of the equation and he got angry, hurt, betrayed, by them both. By their friendship, by the simple easy trust he'd handed them both, something he rarely handed anyone. Keith felt an anger he didn't know what to do with, and his heart thudded like thunder in his chest. He hadn't really processed, ever truly processed they were a couple. It'd only happened today, so much had happened today.

Allura broke them up and ended a piece of their relationship, that even if they found their friendship back would cause that friendship to never to be the same. Lance revealed that he was with Allura and had stepped over a line of friendship and brotherhood that was something so unforgivable... how was he supposed to forgive it? Yet his mind kept telling him he was supposed too and he kept questioning ( _why_. Then there was the True King of Arus... Keith didn't know half of what it all meant, he couldn't process it, it was elemental and magic. It was about what made Arus special and different from other planets and brought Voltron to it, or the planet to create Voltron? No one really knew what came first?

That wasn't a question to ponder now, though. It wasn't a question he could ponder now looking at the family portrait before him. Because it was beautiful and a total horror story to him. Lance had his arms around Allura from behind, they were both laughing, in sync. In a way he'd seen them do a million times and it'd never hit how beautiful it looked until that moment. How dare it, he thought, angry. Around them were children, obviously their children. A blonde boy, standing tall next to them, with a wide smiling on his face, looking like he was trying not to laugh but failing; he had his finger poking into the side of a red-headed girl. A beautiful auburn Princess that was familiar and known to Keith's eyes. She stood in the picture, making the customary hand gesture behind her brother's head, laughing herself, looking like both her parents at once.

In that painting all the things that irked Keith about Liona, that had made her seem to familiar that made her knowledge of him and how to push his buttons that much more of irritant smacked Keith in the gut with a hard sucker punch. Sucker, he could hear Lance saying it too. She had Allura's chin, she had the shape of Allura's eyes with Lance's coloring, Lance's cocky smile, and Allura's nose. She was the perfect beautiful female combination of them both.

"You're theirs," Keith spat out, like it was something evil staring at the picture.

Liona went from looking at him, to following his line of sight and she gasped. "Oh, uh?" she stared at the picture. "I never stood for hours for that one."

"That is because it's done three years from your current present," a female voice said from behind them.

Keith whirled around, hating to notice that Liona went into a defense mode as quickly as he did, picture perfect. For some reason it pissed him off, he knew he was being unfair but he didn't want to care about it. Yet, he did. His eyes fell on a young woman that looked way too much like Allura, Arusian genetics pissed him off. It was like how Romelle looked to be her twin, when given how long Pollux and Arus had lived without any crossbreeding that never should've been possible. How far in the future were they have supposed to have traveled?

Liona calmed next to him.

Keith remained cautious. "Who are you," he asked, stepping in front of Liona.

"I'm Princess Allura, but please call me Laurie everyone else does."

Keith gritted his teeth. "Right, of course. Allura. I'd think this was a warped practical joke if I didn't know better."

Laurie gave him a sympathetic look and took a deep breath. "I understand that you are not in a very good place Captain Kogane, but please we don't have much time. We need to get you and Princess Liona back to her time."

"Her time!" Keith snapped. "Listen here, I need to go back to my time."

Laurie held up her hand. "I'm sorry, I misspoke. Let me be more clear. You need go to her time, as sort of a connecting flight before continuing on to you're own. It's vital, to make sure the timelines reconfigure..."

"Reconfigure?" Liona said. "Is about how my time doesn't match up what was happening in his time?"

"And how our time hasn't changed since Lance and Allura left us a year ago..." Laurie shook her head. "It's strange and odd, but from what I've been seeing, I think I understand."

"Seeing? You're a Seer?" Liona asked, eyes wide. "Wow, Mom told me the last royal Seer was like 400 years ago my time, that's like..."

"I should amend something else... The only to change in this time since Allura and Lance left us, was I suddenly started to See."

Keith took in the words _Allura and Lance left us_, for the second time and couldn't take it, he exploded. "What do you mean, Allura and Lance left us... They were here?"

Laurie sighed and nodded. "Yes."

Liona seemed to catch up with the conversation. "Wait, what? Really?"

"Come with me, we have a lot to talk about," Laurie said.

"Wait, no, I need you to answer some questions for me now," Keith said.

Laurie sighed but shook her head. "No. It's best that the whole family is there. We're all a part of it. Well, me, my sister and brother. I think this is all partly our own fault, and also some other greater unknown hand."

"The Unknown Hand, Mira mentioned it, a guiding spirit that can't be understood or known," Liona said.

Keith's bones were rattling, they were trusting everything around him, they trusted Laurie, they trusted the conversation. But he was angry, he was confused and he was tired. He wanted to know what the hell was going on and he wanted to know it now.

Running footsteps could be heard, suddenly a lanky male form appeared next to Laurie allmost out of nowhere. Keith blinked, amazed at the resemblance Lance and he had a sudden urge to punch the guy out cold. "What the hell?" he said.

"Wow, it's him, it's really him..." the guy stepped forward and bowed, before holding out his hand. "I'm a big fan of your work, Master Kogane."

Liona burst out laughing.

Keith scowled, as he pushed past the Lance-a-like and walked towards Laurie. "Fine, lets get this over with."

"Uh, Sis, you said he'd be grumpy not mean!"

"Lance not now," Laurie hissed.

"L.T." He said to Keith and Liona. "Seriously, she's the only idiot who calls me Lance... and you, Princess Liona, I'm a huge fan of yours too, you rewrote a few of his books... awesome stuff," L.T. jabbed his thumb toward Keith.

"Lance," Laurie hissed. "What did we decide about random information this time around!"

"Less is key, but come on she was the first Warrior Princess, she's awesome, Lia is going to go..."

"I hate my siblings," Laurie muttered. "Please follow me," Laurie said to Keith.

Keith frowned, he wanted to hit the Lance-a-like the more he spoke, Liona kept laughing the more the guy spoke, probably because his expression got darker with each word. He glowered at her. "Decorum, Cadet, this isn't your Castle of Lions."

"Of course it is," L.T. said.

Liona laughed so hard she bent over and then hissed in pain and swore. "Son of a bitch!"

Keith instantly felt shame and guilt, he'd totally forgotten that she was still injured. Laurie rushed forward, "Oh, gods, I saw you were injured, but didn't know how bad it was, should we go to the infirmary?"

"No," Liona said. "You said there wasn't much time..."

"She needs the infirmary," Keith said.

"No, I don't..."

"Yes, you do," Keith said. He watched the brother and sister exchange glances.

"I'll take her, sis. I can tell her what's up, you tell him..."

Laurie sighed. "Fine. Great, Lia's going to rush to the infirmary the second she sees I don't have her Warrior Queen with her."

"Queen? I won't be the Queen?"

"Uh oh, Laurie, random information!" L.T. sniped.

"Shut it!"

Keith was getting tired of this. "Can you just get her to the damn infirmary?"

L.T. looked up and he sighed. "Yeah, okay," he looked at Liona. "So, I take it you won't let me carry you are anything right?"

Liona glared at him.

L.T. grinned. "Follow me. You know though at this point in weird time traveling time I'm older than you, you're like my Great-great-great Aunt or something..."

"So that means I can grab your cheeks your really hard and say, 'Ain't he so HANDSOME!' in front of girls you like?" Liona asked cheekily.

"Hey, sis, she's a McClain!"

Keith groaned but finally their footsteps and the bantering vanished. He looked Laurie in her eyes, brown not blue which made him feel more comfortable. "Start talking, beginning with Lance and Allura being here."

"You need to know two things, my mother had a theory that time travel was possible scientifically. She was working on it, with her cousin from planet Balto."

"There is no planet Balto."

"Balto II. They rebuild on another planet, their whole society, you really think Ninja Scientists would allow themselves to remain homeless?"

Keith eyed her, he knew of the plans to start rebuilding a second Balto from intelligent reports at the Garrison, but they were classified, he wasn't even free to tell Pidge about it, yet. "Okay...go on."

"Second, the people of Arus are all telepathic now, all of us to various levels. Some can only converse with family, some with anyone they meet, some only with friends, you get the drift.. Those of us who are of the royal family are especially gifted and also can pick up emotions, and speak to people over long distances. Especially those we are close to."

"Uh huh."

"At some point around, let's say hundred or more years ago we lost the ability to use Voltron. But it didn't matter, we were at peace, there was no war. Arus had other means of defense, and offense is needed. Before that the planet only was using Voltron for Defensive use. He hadn't been used in decades. It was never a worry... Unlike what is happening now in your time, as I have been Seeing, Allura never brought the Seers out of the dark, in our timeline. I do not know why or how, because all the prophecies we have found in the last fifty years - another difference in timelines. In your time you found the cavern, Allura has found her father held some prophecies, Liona speaks of prophecies found and read... We only started to find here in the last fifty years or so due to earthquakes happenstance. We knew nothing of them...

I'm digressing, where was I. The Seers never returned, I don't know what happened to them, I think they died out because of being in hiding. I am the first one known to Arus in centuries... and I am anomaly. The day Lance and Allura left my ability appeared. Before then my intuition was one of the strongest on the planet but nothing more than intuition. We also didn't have any of the Prophecies of the Seers here until about fifty years ago. And no Voltron.

Now, those things aren't true for the timeline you are from, or the one Liona came from. Also there are no such weapons as what Liona wears on her arm known to us, she calls it a Voltcom I believe? Yet I found prophecies about it, about her with it, yet our History books about her, show her using real swords of fire." Laurie paused on the landing they had reached.

Keith took it all in and nodded.

"I'm going a bit ahead of what you asked but I have a purpose for it. I want you to understand these things. Now back to us unable to use Voltron, and not having Prophecies until recently. I study the prophecies. I'm a historian with a focus on them. I translate and interpret them. I'm fascinated by them... I used to put things that didn't seem to fit this timeline in a pile. It used to be tiny little things, that I soon thought were things seen that happened to not occur, sometimes those things were written down by novice Seers - now though that pile is huge and correlates to either the Timeline you are from or Liona's current. Anyway... I found a prophecy about us, my own time... It was about comet that would come and destroy Arus. It was about how we would find the way to resurrect Voltron and stop it. And be ready for a coming new war."

"Anna?"

"No. She's not a problem, not since Voltron smacked her down led by Lance. Not that she knew he was there. Also I saw her death in your time by Liona's hand. Her followers are easily handled here now. There is a different threat coming, not your issue..." Laurie took a bit of a breath. "We tried and tried to bring back Voltron. But not one Lion would fly for us. Not one of them. My brother and my sister are amazing pilots but they kept going in the wrong lion in turned out. So simple but so hard. It's funny how it happens... I found another part of the prophecy about the comet it was burned out in places, I didn't have all it. It said how they would come and find the five... We didn't know what it meant. My brother, my sister and I we couldn't give up. We couldn't let Arus be destroyed by a piece of rock... Lia is a genuis with science, she started fiddling with mom's time travel experiment while she was out of time. We decided to call on Lance and Allura, they were the strongest King and Queen Arus ever had, they knew Voltron better than anyone. Lia knew she could make it work, L.T. and I knew we could connect with our ancestors. Only we called them from the wrong time...which shouldn't have happened because Lia inputted the figures in correctly. They should've come from a time when they were already married, yet the came from a time before they even had fallen in love. That was our mistake, Allura wanted nothing more to leave and return to you. I'm aware that has changed now..." Laurie trailed off and Keith figured she'd noticed his dark look at the mention of Allura and Lance, of Allura and him.

"Look, I know that you were only just told about them. I realize that the portrait of them with Alfor and Liona was a shock and helped you place who Liona truly is but you need to understand how important it is to get you and Liona back where you belong."

"I want nothing more than to put her where she belongs and then get home."

"I have more to tell you... You have to forgive them."

Keith stared at her blankly, he clenched his fists. It was bad enough he had a voice in his own head saying it but to have a stranger with a face that looked enough like Allura's. "Don't tell me what to do."

Laurie sighed. "History, all history says you do. But in all other timelines how they tell you is less fraught, it holds less betrayal. They tell you right away, they have only kissed once and that was when Lance was feverish and hallucinating."

Keith spat out. "They kissed in the cave!"

Laurie sighed. "I have too many facts in my head, I don't know who knows what when and where. Damn it."

Keith eyed her. "Excuse me for not really caring."

"Well, you should. This is the thing, history tells me you will forgive them. But my intuition tells me to tell you it's important. I'm not going to shy away from that. I'm not going to pretend that how things have changed because of everything isn't a factor in how things may shake out differently. When you and Liona reach your times, this time will finally change...and I don't know what will happen. My family, my history, the entire History of Arus will be different. This what I am Seeing whenever I close my eyes and meditate. It's some guide, some unknown hand. Somehow we became without Seers, without Lance when he was King ever really accepting or understanding his title as True King, without the Voltcoms and with Voltron... and it was all wrong. My Seeing has told me we pulled Allura and Lance out of the wrong time to fix everything... to make sure that Voltron is never lost to any King of Arus in the first place. But also that it was Anna, who Lance and Allura had knowledge of, that went to the past, because she would do a Kings Spell, ensuring that Lance would accept his title, face his fears, because of Coran. That that would be the fated danger that brought Liona to the past... which was always fixed. The amazing Arus Lance and Allura rebuild once peace is found for a time on Arus, that is fixed too, you should tell them that someday but us.. we're not, the comet is though... but Voltron will be known and ready in the new timeline. Anna was also the threat Liona had to kill, to ensure that it was you and her that came here... And I think it's so you will forgive them."

"Forgive them? You keep telling me about more lies. They came here, they knew about Anna all along! They told us nothing, they lied to me all along. Allura kept it a secret Lance kissed her in that cave, so him being unaware of his actions... It means she was aware. These things are making me feel better about their betrayal, Princess."

"Voltron can only continue to succeed if the force is united," Laurie said.

"Can we get where we are going?" Keith asked. "Is there more?"

"No, that was all the exposition I needed to explain. I just..."

"I get it, you think it's vital I forgive them. I think it obvious they were lying for far longer than I even thought they were."

Laurie sighed. "Okay, let's get you to the room we had made for you. The devices for you and Liona won't be ready until tomorrow, which is probably best for her injuries," Laurie said and she turned around.

Keith followed her, she went down a wing and opened a door. "Guest quarters. We learned the hard way that staying in old quarters that hold future truths is a bit of freak out."

"Why would it matter, if those things aren't going to count."

"What I told didn't mean everything would change. I may still exist, but there will be many differences, or may not all. I do expect my gift of Seeing will be gone, I'll once again only be intuitive. I expect Voltcoms and I expect if I do exist I will never know I feared not...Lia and my mother think that the ability to time travel will be lost to them, as well as to my mother's cousin, Pigeon. It seems like a lot, all just to make sure a man accepts his a True King."

Keith snorted.

Laurie shook her head. "He hated being called King, it felt like it was anathema to him. You react the same way... maybe my Seeing is right, maybe the Universe did need to do a lot of trickery to make sure he would accept it. Now the only problem is you..."

"Me?"

"You stared at a shattered coffee mug. You wondered if you, Allura and Lance could be fixed... The answer needs to be yes. Or, it all goes off the rails in a different way. I know the peace and the prosperity of Arus are fixed, but that could just be about the war ending and them being good rulers. It could come at horrible costs that don't happen with you in the picture... I'm not Seeing the whole picture, just enough to give you the pieces, for their questions. And show you how big this, and when I tell my intuition is screaming, tell Keith Kogane to forgive them. I mean it."

"Would you find it so easy."

"No."

"Then what do you expect."

"I'm not the Hero Of Arus. You are. I expect more from you. Goodnight, Captain Kogane."

Keith watched as Laurie closed the door to the guest room in his face, her face serious, her eyes dark and mouth in a sad sympathetic but unyielding smile.

~~.~~

A nurse was scanning Liona's open wound with some that hummed and sent out a low blue light as L.T. spoke to her. Liona listened, her eyes getting bigger and bigger. She interrupted only once or twice, especially when the Seer's came up because she asked about Mira. L.T. explained that Mira was indeed the one Seer, but the only people who knew were Lance, Allura and Keith. Noone was ever told, Historians didn't even find out that she was a Seer until a hundred years after her death when hidden notebooks and prophecies drawn from her were found after an earthquake in the Queen Allura Sacred Gardens. As far as the public knew, Mira Kogane was a nurse who worked at the psychology wing at the Castle.

"She does do that," Liona admitted and L.T. smiled and then went on with his story. Liona couldn't quite believe it all and when she finished she stared at him for a long time and then whistled.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"So, like The Arusians Gods, or the Elements of Arus itself, which is what my Dad thinks really rule this this planet...Stuck their fingers in the water all because in one timeline my dad never got over himself and truly accepted he was a True King? And now that he has, not only are all the timelines screwy until everyone gets back to where they belong, Uncle Keith may not forgive my parents and cause strife and fracture in the Force that could be really, really bad..."

"Pretty much."

"That sounds so stupid. What kind of stupid is that?"

"I think it's kind of cool," L.T. said. "It's like this epic story of love, no matter what your parents find each other and Keith will find Mira. It's just the when and the how that get changed, and how they face their personal demons. I think maybe Keith will end up an even better Master of Martial Arts, and Captain than ever. Plus he's the Hero of Arus. He can't let the planet down."

"Mira says the Hero Of Arus is as vital to everything as the True King," Liona smiled. "That is the Mira from Keith's time, the one who has no clue she's going to fall for him."

L.T. nodded. "Well then see, it's why it's important we get that through to him."

Liona shrugged. "In my time sometimes the three of them are like a three headed monster, I mean they never say the same thing but it's like they always know what is in the others head... and that's even without the telepathy. It's hard to explain. I know he's pissed now, I mean I've seen him pissed plenty. But I can't see him not loving my parents. But then again I never knew he even dated my mom."

"Okay, you're mended," the nurse said.

Liona looked at the nurse. "Did you say mended?"

"Yes. No more open wound, no more cracked anything. All mended," she said, turning off her device.

Liona looked down at her side, she poked herself and she grinned up at L.T. "Okay, that is awesome! Can I take that with me?"

"No," L.T. said laughing.

"It's way cooler than the planet being weird about all our lives, aren't you freaked you might not exist? Will my timeline change too?"

"Yeah, but you're a fix point in time," L.T. said. "you and your twin brother, will definitely be born."

"What about my little sisters?"

L.T. looked sad and he gripped her shoulder. "I really don't know. I think Laurie's being melodramatic. I think we'll be here, we just won't remember anything and all the changes will be what they are. My mom and Lia are pretty sure the way to time travel will be gone, from their minds and any files Anna may have left behind - The VF totally went into her hideout and got rid of them anyway, just in case."

"Smart move," she said. Liona took a deep breath, everything seemed so big. It was a lot like when she first went to the past and realized she had to save her father. Her intuition had told her only she could save him, she'd woken up itchy everyday and it'd been hard to not scratch herself silly but she hadn't because the scratches on her arms would have drawn attention.

Her arms weren't itching at all anymore, she was getting tired, her adrenaline was plummeting since she'd woken up and knowing something was wrong and run to the cavern in time to save Keith. Barely. She was somewhat surprise that this was had worked out so well, almost too easy...

But changing timelines, possibly no little sisters, tears sprung to eyes and she wiped at them and stood up so L.T. wouldn't see her crying. At least anymore than he just had, she thought, she walked to the window in the room and pushed aside the curtain and gasped. "Oh..."

"Yeah, the city is gorgeous at night, especially when the moons are right over it like that."

"It's... half that size in my time. It's not even there at all in Keith's," she whispered. "I've missed it, but this..."

"Lance and Allura would both stare at it for hours."

"They always talk about building a beautiful world for their people. I've seen plans for some of these buildings. That's a library, right, and that's the Art University?"

"Yes."

"Will this change?"

"No. This is all fixed, Laurie promises. I think my dad has asked her a million times, she promises. She showed him the prophecy written by Mira Kogane herself."

Liona let out breath, if this didn't change she could take on everything else, if it meant their would be Seers alive and prospering on Arus always, if it meant Voltron never being lost as a tool for Arus' protection. She'd never know the difference... "It's important he forgives them?"

"It's about Voltron."

"Unity is vital," she whispered.

"Yes."

Liona decided she'd try not to push his buttons for the time left she had with the younger version of her Uncle Keith. "I guess maybe I should be nicer to him, especially now that he knows who I am. I'm must be like salt..."

L.T. stayed silent, they both stared out the window, their peace broken by the door opening and a tiny young woman storming in and staring at Liona. Liona stared back, she felt like she looking into a like soul's eyes. The girl grinned. "Hey, I'm Lia. You are my fighting idol."

"Isn't that random information?" Liona asked in a teasing voice.

"No. At this time in your life, you know you kick ass," Lia informed her.

"Smartass," L.T. mumbled.


	71. Part 5 The Hero & The Seer, Chapter 71

Chapter Seventy-one

The next morning, Liona watched Keith pace. She frowned, it was a beautiful morning, sun was shining bright white light into the room they'd been both led too where a breakfast buffet had been set out. Liona walked over to the window, she could see the lake and the spot of grass, full of morning sun that she knew Keith always used for his morning Tai Chi, and his meditation. Turn back to him, she caught an end of her hair between her index and forefinger and started to play with it nervously.

"Uh, Uncle...er, Keith," she said.

He'd stiffened and stopped so abruptly on the uncle, Liona thought he might topple over. It'd been an honest accident, with them so far in the future, with pictures of her own family surrounding her at every turn; the current family of the Arus Royal House favored their ancestors and honored them well. It was hard for her not to see the Uncle she knew, even in the tense, angry, upset and cautious man before her. He was younger, Liona knew this but he barely looked it, the only ones she saw age differences in were her mother, Mira and Uncle Pidge. With her mother and Mira it was how they held themselves, walked, something in their eyes - maybe something about being mothers. Uncle Pidge was no longer a teenager, that one was obvious. She was avoiding, Liona realized as her thoughts digressed and her hair was in her mouth now, not just between her fingers. It was a bad habit, she pulled it out and pushed her long auburn hair behind her shoulders.

"I just... I think it's going to be awhile, why don't you go outside and meditate or something?" she asked, said, begged... she wasn't sure what she was trying to accomplish.

"No," Keith said, he turned. "It will be sooner than that," he said. "We need to be going, you heard how urgent it is to get the timelines straightened out, however they have been messed up in the first place," Keith sighed. "I believe them, I believe them that something greater than we can understand has happened here. I just don't like being here, and I don't like..."

"Losing," Liona said, nodding and she realized a second to late, way too knowingly.

Keith was glaring at her, that same hard countenance she'd been getting since the night of the ball and she'd stopped pretending to be a maid. She missed the slight suspicious but accepting glare she'd been getting from when she'd been masquerading as Fleur from her uncle.

"Sorry," Liona said. "You know, I don't really mean to keep putting my foot in my mouth here. I just...you don't seem to appreciating how hard this is for me either, Keith. I know you, and you don't know me and your, your - besides Daddy, you're who I look up too the most, and you hate me right now. You've hated me from the start and it's not exactly what I would call fun. I'm used to you being a hard ass and sometimes a total absolute dick, because you're exacting, you're never easy on us but I know why too...this, this you're being harsh and mean because you don't trust me. I've never been outside your sphere of those you trust. Ever. It's weird. And you know it's not like I ever knew you were love with my mom once. None of you told me or Al, we had no clue."

Keith's expression softened minutely, but at least it didn't feel like he was stabbing her in the heart with a dagger with his dark eyes any longer. He rolled his shoulders. "You really call me Uncle?"

"Of course," Liona said.

"I'm fine with your parents," Keith said, arms crossing against his chest, his eyes going to the ceiling.

"Yes, you tease them all the time..." she let about what hang unsaid.

"I'm not in love with your mother," he said. "I wanted to be, I thought I could be, we could be. I..." Keith trailed off and walked to another window in the room. The one that looked out over the brilliant diamond that was fully rebuilt and thriving Arus.

"L.T. told me all of that, all of it, is a fixed point. Nothing can stop Arus from becoming strong and prosperous."

"Yes," a voice said, male, deep, and Liona turned and saw who could only be King Coran. A tall man, in a crown set with the colors of Voltron, the elements linked. "My daughter feels that Arus must never lose Voltron as it did for so many centuries, that we must always evolve Voltron, and grow with It. Like in your time, Princess, with that lovely elegant elemental weapon of yours. May I see the swords?"

Liona nodded and brought up her fire swords. King Coran smiled like a young boy and Liona saw the McClain in it, loud and clear and grinned back. She liked them all, her ancestors, she felt she knew them forever. She'd always believed family was strong, she knew from her bond with Al. She knew from her bond with her chosen family as well, the Voltron Force.

"Captain Kogane, my wife and daughter are ready I believe, I came to escort you both to the Control Room myself."

Keith moved quickly, as he passed her it felt like a static charge passed her, he was restless and in a hurry. She followed him quickly, and gave the King an apologetic smile for Keith's taciturn response. King Coran shook his head, and gave her an understanding nod. They all knew what Keith was going through, they all probably understood it better than her. She had no idea what a broken heart felt like.

In the control room Liona grinned hello to Laurie, L.T. and was hugged tightly by Lia, who then turned and introduced her to her mother. "This is my mother, Queen Ella," Liona took in a short woman, with round glasses and who oozed intelligence.

"Princess Liona, Captain Kogane it is an honor to meet you both. I think Lia and I put our brains to good use in creating another time travel bracelet for Keith and fixing up Liona's for reuse. We have set two times into Keith's, that is why we made a new one, we wanted to make sure the components wouldn't fry out and could be fixed easily. It looks like the travel is hard on the devices and that is why they can only last so many trips. If anything goes wrong on the trip back to Liona's time, I am sure that Pidge, how many great grandfather's back he is for me - can figure how to fix it."

Liona's eyes widened. "You're related to Pidge too," she said to Lia.

Lia grinned. "Lance still thinks I'm all fiery McClain though."

"No, shit," L.T. said.

"Language," King Coran said. "We have guests."

"Guests, Daddy, she's family and so is he, practically."

King Coran shook his head, and put his arm on Laurie's shoulder. "Allura?"

Laurie smiled at him. "I'm fine with the bad language, Daddy. But, yes, I agree with your point. We need to speed this up, Mom."

"Oh. Okay," Queen Ella snapped a device on Keith and then on Liona. "It was an honor to meet you both, however briefly.

"Same here," the three children said.

"As for me," King Coran said.

Liona took in a breath and held it, looking at Keith. Keith nodded and they both hit the button, kicking the time travel device into action. It wasn't until she hit it, that Liona thought, "Crap, control room, is that really the best place to just materialize? " She also had forgotten to ask how close to her disappearance she'd be returning, but it was too late to anything she was surrounded with nothing but white light as she whipped through time.

~~.~~

Mira Kogane giggled watching her husband try to flip a egg over in the frying pan. He could storm enemy battlefields, he could sneak into enemy territory, he could make grown men cry, but he couldn't make her an egg over easy if his life depended on it. His tongue was sticking out a little in concentration and she felt sure she wasn't imagining the bead of sweat on his brow.

"This isn't funny," he said but there was no bark to his bite.

"Oh it so is," she laughed.

Keith shook his head and carefully pushed the spatula under the egg and started to try to flip it. And the yolk broke immediately, and he began to cure in a mix of English, Ancient Arusian, Japanese and a few other languages he'd picked up over the years.

"I can make my own eggs."

"You just told me, we are pregnant again, I wanted to make you breakfast," Keith said, sounding serious and sad. Mira laughed and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him lightly on the mouth. "I think you're all I need for breakfast, I feel a bit nauseated."

Their voltcoms simultaneously went off. They both laughed, because it almost never failed. "It's a wonder we got pregnant the first time with Akira, thirteen years ago, let alone now..."

Mira giggled madly. "I just think Lance and Allura have a secret fertility goddess under their bed..."

"Kogane!" Keith said into his voltcom. Hunk's face came up, looking serious. "Prince Al, just ran into the control room, he hadn't been bed all night. He wasn't making much sense, but part of it was that Princess Liona disappeared right in front of his of his eyes. Vanished into thin air."

Mira felt a rush of cold wash over her. She closed her eyes, cleared her head. She hadn't meditated the night before or yet this morning because of the pregnancy test being positive... What had she missed seeing coming to pass.

The images that she saw shocked in her ways a vision had shook her since her first ones back when she was but a child, she reached out and grabbed Keith's arm, her nails marking his skin, as he was only his pajama bottoms. She breathed quickly and felt out of breathe when she came out of the vision. Then she pulled up own arm and brought up Hunk. "I'll be there after I brief Keith, he can't come with me. Akira's already in the Castle, please send him home."

"What the hell do you mean I can't come, Allura and Lance are going too."

"You can't come," Mira snapped. "It's live or death, it's all all...It's the planets. I have too... You have to sit down while I explain this, and about why you can't go. I don't think it will do any good for you to meet yourself... not in the state you're going to be when you get here."

"What?" Keith said. "Mira, Angel, of all the things you've said to me after a vision?"

She gave him a grim smile. "I know, I know. I have only about twenty minutes, to tell you what I need to satisfy you and get to the Castle, Keith. So will you work with me and not be too stubborn? For once, please?"

Keith nodded, sat down and took her hand. "I'll try."

~~.~~

Allura stood up, the holographic chair underneath her didn't feel substantial enough to hold her, not when her son was looking her with freaked out, fear filled eyes telling her, he couldn't sense Liona anywhere. _Anywhere_? Her twins, her beautiful, perfect, complementary twins could sense each other anywhere, planets apart and they could hold a conversation with the other. They were always in touch, sometimes it drove Al and Liona a bit nuts and the sniped and snarked, and threatened to choke the other. But Allura knew they never would, or could. She couldn't do this, she couldn't handle the idea of Al not being able to sense, or hear, or know where Liona had gotten in her head where to run too.

"Al, I need you to slow this down. Step by step," Lance said, also standing, his hands dug deeply into his jacket. "Liona and you were where?"

"On our way to the back catacombs."

"Why?" Lance asked.

"Uh... well I was trying to stop her."

"From?"

"She had a date with Dillon."

_Lance, don't get mad, now isn't... she isn't here._

_The last thing I am is mad about Dillon... but... Fuck._

"Okay, so she was sneaking out to meet Dillon. And?"

"And we went by Mom's old room and we heard voices. Men. They were going through Mom's old books and diaries."

Allura didn't get it, or understand. The diaries left that room where of her teenage years, they of times before she really figured out her heart and soul. Before she knew that she could save herself, that she could control her own future more than anyone else, and before she realized that Lance was the one that owned her heart.

"You're mother's diaries?"

Al nodded. "Liona kicked in the door, I told her we should wake you, but you know her..."

"Yes, though who would want my diaries, there was no tactical information in there."

"These men, Al, what did they look like?"

"They had on robes, dark robes, they were good fighters. Not as good as us, but bigger, stronger, I... I was slow, I was too slow. They got out the window and Liona was after them, she knocked one out but one had one of mom's diaries. She kept running after him, attacked him and then while they were fighting, he grabbed at this device on his wrist, tried to throw off Liona but she didn't let him and they vanished. And..." Al's voice broke, cracked and he sobbed. "It's empty in my head. Empty. No crazy Liona thoughts at all, nothing."

"The other man?" Lance asked.

Allura already knew the answer.

"I went back to where he'd been knocked out but he was gone too."

Hunk walked back in from the hall, Pidge right after him, looking worried and grave. "Mira's on her way, she had me send Akira home and said Keith can't come to the Castle."

"What!" Lance yelled. "We need Keith, my daughter is fucking missing!"

Hunk looked at Lance and repeated the words. "Mira said Keith can't come to the Castle."

_Lance, Mira would have a good reason, don't scare Al more._

Lance turned and looked at her, she saw the fear in his eyes. Liona was Lance's baby girl, Allura knew he loved Al and her equally but Liona was the one that made Lance feel like he actually wasn't some stupid kid, who got lucky somehow by ended up on Arus, with her. Liona cemented all the things that Allura said she saw in him that he'd wanted to believe but hadn't been able to until he saw his little Firebrand of a daughter.

_Our daughter is strong, she's brave, she'll_... Allura's own fear brought up a mental sob but she held his eyes, feeling the truth of her own words nonetheless.

"Al, your sister will be fine, she'll be fine. Romy and Thea, are going to wondering where your Mom is, go play with them okay?" Lance said.

"What? No, I need to help...' Al started.

"Al?" Lance said.

Al nodded. "Yeah, okay, I can do that for you and Mom."

"Pidge, it happened in and outsides Allura's old bedroom can you find it and bring it up?" Lance asked.

Pidge nodded and went to work.

Allura looked at Hunk and then felt Lance wrap his arms around her. "Did Mira give you clue on why Keith couldn't come?"

"No. I heard Keith say, 'what' though. She's telling him why, so I don't know how long she'll be..."

Lance snorted. "Unless it's straightforward why, it might be awhile."

Allura snuggled more into Lance's hold. It was substantial but it wasn't helping much, why was her daughter missing. Where had she gone? What was going on? She felt a rush of anger, when that girl got home she was going to get a lecture about being reckless and rushing into unknown dangers. How dare she scare her like this, do this to her father... Allura felt shaky, faint, clammy, Lance's arms tightened around her.

_What did you say? She's brave, smart, can take care of herself..._

_ And why is that? Because she's always putting herself in danger._

_ I'm sorry._

_ You should be Lance Charles McClain. It's all your genes fault._

_ Yeah, cause you never once have rushed head long and stubborn into danger with reckless abandon._

He could always make her smile, her mouth quirk but she still wanted to cry but panicking wouldn't do her any good. Her voltcom buzzed, she jumped at that sound, it startling her out of her thoughts, her nerves on edge. "Allura here," she said.

"It's Mira," Mira said, needlessly as her face appeared. "I'm on my way, but I wanted to tell you that Liona is going to get there before me. With someone else."

"What?" Lance said, looking at her through Allura's voltcom.

"No time to explain clearly, but Liona is going to just appear in the Control Room, in the next four minutes, with Keith... not our Keith, a Keith from the past...And I got a sense he won't be happy to see you or Allura from my vision. I'm on my way but I won't be there when they arrive." Mira then cut out.

Allura looked at Lance. Lance then looked at Pidge. Pidge hit a button and showed the fight Al had told them about, Liona fighting with a man, who was beating the crap out of her. Allura winced and her fury rose. "I'm going to kill that man."

"Not if I do first."

Then they saw the man grab at his wrist, and try to toss Liona off his back as he did so, but having not succeeded they both vanished into thin air. "What the hell!"

Allura didn't know what to think either, she was about to ask Pidge to reply it when she felt an energy build up in the room. Lance felt it too, probably more than she did. He moved across the room and yanked Hunk from where he was standing just before a tall figure and shorter figure hidden by bright white light appeared. Then the white vanished and Allura found herself looking at her daughter and a younger version of Keith Kogane.

"Mommy," Liona said.

Allura nodded.

Then she had her daughter's long limbs in her arms and her red hair in her mouth and her world tilted back onto it's axis, until she heard a crack. She looked up and found her husband on the floor, on his ass, and Keith swearing as he shook his fist and a black device on his wrist started to spark.

Liona turned out of the hug and let out a loud sigh of frustration. "You are unbelievable. You punched him. Him! He's not the Lance you're mad at you you moron! And look at what you did to the time travel device, what if Uncle Pidge can't fix it... Huh?"


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter Seventy-two

_Lance, are you okay!_

Lance got to his feet, rubbing his jaw, and looked toward his wife, but caught sight of his daughter instead. She was running her mouth, a mile per second at Keith for hitting him. Her whole face twisted in frustration and aggravation with the younger version of his best friend. As she finished her tirade she blew out a long breathe and the finger she'd been pointing landed on her hip.

Lance couldn't help but smile, it'd been less than a day but she'd vanished into thin air, he'd seen it on the screen. He'd woken up in the middle of the night at the time it happened too. His breath knocked out of him, the planet telling him that a piece of his whole reason for breathing, his reason for waking up everyday living was missing. He hadn't been able to read the emotion Arus had attempted to explain. He knew now, he would be praying that it would never happen again.

Lance decided to wait for Mira to deal with Keith, and the reason he had for cracking him one on the jaw. Keith had looked furious with him, it was a dark, wrathful fury and Lance had thought the punch would knock him out when he realized he had no time to block it. In the end, however, Keith pulled back mere seconds before it would've been too late. But really Lance had more important things to do, like hug the aggravated Princess who was still being clung to by Allura.

"Hey, Firebrand? Got any of that hugging for me too?"

Liona's face whipped back over in his direction and her eyes filled instantly with tears, which hadn't been his intent at all. He felt his throat start to close up with emotion. He never new what to do when she cried, his oldest wasn't much of a crier. He swallowed, but before he finished he had Liona wrapped around him. She was saying Daddy, over and over again and then she gripped his shoulders and pulled back. "I didn't let her kill you, I didn't, I killed her first, I killed her and I wouldn't let her kill you..." she sounded hysterical.

"Hey," he said, his jaw clenching, he pulled her tighter. He glanced across the room at Allura. Allura shook her head, words weren't necessary to ask, neither of them had a clue. "Liona, look at me, I'm fine. Whatever you did, I'm fine?"

Liona pulled back again, her head had been buried in his shoulder and she did look at him. "Right, that's the weird thing, the time lines don't match. This isn't what follows from then, but I was there and he's going to go back to then... It's all screwed up. Keith has to go back to fix it, and it has to be soon and he screwed up the device."

"Pidge can fix it, I'm sure," Lance said.

"I hope so," Liona said, sniffling and blinking, trying to stop her tears.

"Liona!" Al's voice was at the door. Liona whipped around, once again, and was gone from Lance's arms in a flash. The twins meeting in the middle in a tackle of a limbs, tears, and silence. They would never share the words of their reunion with anyone else.

Lance recalled Al telling them he couldn't sense Liona at all. He'd been at the brink of tears but held them back, trying to be strong and not emotional as he delivered the report of what happened. Lance shuddered at the thought of them not feeling or sensing each other. He'd spent a lifetime without Allura, or Arus, constantly inside of his being, but he couldn't remember what it was like. He feared the emptiness, if it would happen to him, would drive him insane, cause him to die. That Liona dealt with it, in a time that was not her own... How long had she'd been there?

_How long was she without him, without us? He asked Allura._

Allura's hand slipped into his, he turned and met her eyes and she shook her head. "I don't know, but she found her way home," she whispered. _You're bruising. Why did he hit you?_

_ I don't know._

Lance turned toward Pidge then, who stood with Hunk near the control room main computer, watching the whole scene with curious eyes. "Pidge, get the damaged device off of..." he looked at Keith, unsure what to call him. "Keith the Younger, here." he rolled his eyes, thinking that was lame.

Pidge nodded and walked over to Keith. Keith eyed him and then lifted his right wrist upward. "It's not supposed to be able to come off until both visits have been used up," he said.

Pidge hit a button and the sparking device fell off. "I think you broke that."

Hunk laughed. "Lance's face has always been really hard."

Lance snorted.

"Keith's fists have been compared to bricks," Pidge muttered.

"So when a brick hits a granite wall..." Hunk said.

Pidge grinned.

Keith glowered at the two of them, Lance watched it and shook his head. Not even a twitch of a smile, he cleared his throat in what Allura called his King sound. He hated pulling the rank, but he felt it necessary, they needed this guy comfortable. He didn't want to have to put Liona through to harsh of a debriefing if he could help it.

Pidge and Hunk both stopped, nodded and Pidge turned. "Uh, I'm going to need an idea of what I'm working on?"

"Oh!" Liona yelled from where she was still with Al. "Here," she snapped off her device. "I only had the one trip in mine. It is it perfect working order," she walked over to Pidge and handed it over. "You're ancestors created this, I believe they found the way science can pull you through time. So, I'm sure you can fix it."

Pidge's eyes widened but he took the device silently. "Thank you, Lia," he said, using he and Hunk's nickname for her.

Keith let out a small sound and Liona smiled a strange smile that meant something Lance couldn't guess at. "Thank you, Uncle Pidge," she said.

"Uncle Pidge," Keith shook his head. "He wanted to ask you to the Ball..." he muttered.

Liona blushed, Pidge squawked, "I wanted to what? What?"

"You know Keith, I don't think that was vital information to share!" Liona said, then she turned back to Pidge. "It's not like you, knew who I was, you thought I was a maid, named Fleur, no one knew who I was yet. And then no one knew I was Mom and Dad's."

"Yeah, except your Mom and your Dad," Keith said darkly.

Liona shot Keith a glare. "No, they didn't."

"You're not stupid," Keith snapped. "They went to the future, they saw all the same loving portraits and paintings we did. They knew who were the second you gave your real name. Liona."

"Keith!" Allura shouted as Lance watched Liona's blood drain from her face at the fact he'd just shoved into her face. He'd stood there trying to figure out what he was doing. Trying to imagine a Pidge who might have a crush on his daughter; the planet instantly showing him the age differences between him his present and the Keith in the room with him. The Pidge in the time Liona went too was her age, a year older at most. It fit, it worked.

"Pidge, don't worry about it, you were a teenager the time Liona went too, and she's my daughter. You couldn't help yourself, I'm sure, but think she was amazing and beautiful... Though Liona tells me you made a move on her, I'm throwing you in the dungeon!"

"Daddy!" Liona yelled.

Lance winked at her, his heart was pounding. He didn't like any of this. He didn't like how Keith was lashing out at his daughter, trying to use her to hurt him and Allura. But he wasn't going to let it work, he couldn't. All his senses were telling him something was wrong, Black Lion was rumbling uneasily in the back of his mind. He needed to contact his Keith, to ask him what he was getting. He needed Mira to show up? What was keeping her?

_Allura, take him to your office, talk with him. Start a debrief, just get him away from Liona._

_I'd love too._ Allura said back, unhappily and Lance watched her grab Keith by the arm. "You're coming with me. Also, let's get one thing straight, Keith Akira Kogane, you _ever speak to my daughter_ like that again I will harm you."

Lance turned back to Pidge and was about to tell him to get to work but Pidge was still looking completely shaken and a bit nauseated at what Keith had muttered. "I'd...she's...my niece."

Lance couldn't help but laugh. "I know, really, Arus gave me the answer. It was fifteen years, Pidge. Liona went fifteen years in the past, you were what sixteen/seventeen then? She was a pretty stranger, pretending to be a maid. There weren't many pretty girls around your age if I remember right at that time."

"No. Not really," Pidge sighed.

Liona rolled her eyes. "It was weird, but you were really sweet to me and never made a move it that makes you feel better. I think you picked up on the fact it really weirded me out."

"I need to go focus on science now, cause this is all just..."

"Go."

"Liona and Pidge," Al sing-songed. "That's a great one, teasing you for life sis."

"Shut up."

"Never."

Liona grinned at Al and opend her mouth, Lance watched, waiting for her to say something deceivingly mean but instead her voice broke. "Promise?"

Al nodded and the two of them hugged again.

"I need to see Thea and Romy, can I go? Or, do you want too..." Liona looked her father.

"Go, Firebrand. We'll debrief tomorrow, okay. I need to speak with Mira. She should be here soon," he reached out with his senses to the footpaths between the Kogane house and the Castle. His mind connection with the planet allowing him to locate Mira. She was outside the room, waiting, he frowned. "Go, you two."

_Al, she looks tired, get her some food and put her to bed. Force it if you have too._

Al turned back and nodded, his face focused but the boy had his color back that had been missing since he'd run into Lance and Allura's room screaming hysterically about Liona.

As soon as the left and Lance was alone in the control room Mira walked in through the door she'd been standing behind. "I'm sorry, I felt it was best to talk to you alone first. I rather have Allura too, but I think you were right to send her off with Keith."

"Why the hell is he so angry? I haven't seen him like that since he lost Tara?"

Mira sighed. "You and Allura had just told him you've been together behind his back, mere hours before he found himself in the future with Liona. I'm also afraid he'd been sensing things were wrong for awhile but never expected such betrayal."

"But.. that... together? We kissed once than Allura ran away. Then she broke it off with Keith, explained why and came back to me."

"Not how it happened in the time Liona visited."

Lance sighed. "The mixed up timelines?"

"Yes. And now the Unity of the Voltron Force is in danger, unless Allura and I, while he is here, and then back in his own time can get through to him. As well as yourself. Forgiveness must happen."

"Forgiveness is not something you can force," Lance said.

Mira sighed. "I know. But, I know Keith as well. He loves you, he loves Allura. He was never in love with her, the day she broke it off with him, he was going to break it off with her. In our timeline. This fact hasn't changed, he wanted to love her but he didn't. Tara is still a source of pain as well... I don't think he and Keith should meet, they are in such different places. I do not think he should know I am his future his wife as well. I have a sense he trusts me. If he knows too much, he might feel pressured, and I think that could backfire."

Lance shook his head. "This is a lot to take in. How different was this timeline."

"Liona can give you better, clearer details than I. As can he."

"Fine. I'm clueless on this, so I'll follow your lead. I'm going to go to your house and talk to Keith. I need to see the version of him that makes sense."

"He'll be pleased. He's only listening to me, because he trusts my judgement."

Lance laughed. "I know that."

"Could you pull King Rank to keep him in the house?"

Lance shook his head. "No, he'll listen to you fine, Mira."

Mira rolled her eyes. "Let's hope. I'll wait here for Allura and Keith. Then I'll go check in on Liona."

"Please do, call me back here if anything major happens."

"Of course."

~~.~~

The second the door closed to her office Allura slapped him. "Last, you talk to her like that again, it will be a punch to your groin."

Keith refused to touched his stinging cheek. The words had kept coming out of his mouth and he knew he should have stopped them. He felt horrible with every syllable but he couldn't stop shouting at Liona, saying the things he was to her. He had to go and say the worse things he could have. How her 'Uncle' had a crush on her, break her bubble that Lance and Allura had known who she was...because he hoped, he'd really hoped it'd hurt.

He wasn't recognizing himself. This man who was so angry and pained he wanted a teenage girl to share in his anguish. He walked passed Allura to the window and looked out Arus. It wasn't nearly as changed from his time as the far future had been. But you could see the beginning of a true city where the the main village stood, their were ships coming and going from the sky to and from somewhere. Trade and travel, Keith thought idly. When in truth he was looking out the window not to face Allura.

"Explain to me why you are taking your anger out on my daughter."

"She's yours. With Lance. It's... She showed up, this cocky better than should be for her age fighter. Naturally talented with a sword."

"You should see her fly."

Keith heard the pride in Allura's vocie and he closed his eyes. "She pushed my buttons. I should have known, instantly from the way she spoke, the way she fought like me, the way she had of being confident like Lance and full of pride like you. She told me I was her trainer, that explained her style. The rest... I should have realized sooner she was yours and his. She showed up at a bad time. This witch from the future, trying to kill Lance, she was saying she was the future too. I couldn't blindly believe her."

"Of course not, I can understand that."

"But you did. So, did Lance. Because you two knew who she was, the minute you heard her first name."

"I see."

Keith turned around and faced Allura for the first time. She was beautiful, as always. She wore a blue flight uniform, her hair straight and long, a larger blue stoned tiara. The rings on her left hand were understated, simple, they looked Earth rather than Arusian.

"Lance's paternal grandmother's wedding and engagement rings," Allura explained seeing where he was looking. "I preferred them to the Arusian ones Nanny and Coran wanted me to wear."

Keith found himself nodding. "You and he got together behind my back."

Allura shook her head. "Keith?"

"You did, don't argue. The timelines aren't matching, it's why they need to be fixed. It's why I never should have given into the urge to punch him. But he was smiling at me, all gregarious and happy and Lance. He was about to thank me for bring Liona home and I couldn't take it. I wanted to knock him out, I wanted to give him an concussion."

"What stopped you then, you pulled back."

Keith turned back to the window. "He's Lance."

"He's your best friend you mean. This means a part of you wants to forgive him."

Keith shook his head. "It meant I felt conflicted, nothing more."

Allura sighed. "I don't know the details of a timeline, I can't remember... But I do know that the day I went to you to tell I was in love with Lance, you already knew. You told me we were just friends, that you had wanted to love me, that you had tried. But you can't force being love and we were friends, best friends, and you considered me family and loved me but we weren't in love. And then you told me you suspected I had feelings for Lance. And I told you you were right."

"Oh, I suspected. I also suspected if I was right it was all going on behind my back. You two were keeping secret after secret. Starting with going to the future..."

"I've never been to the future."

"Allura was... the one from my time."

"Sounds like a lot happened differently and you got very hurt in the process," Allura said, her voice kind and easy on Keith's ears and when her hand hit his shoulder and gripped it a comforting and soft grip, he didn't flinch. "I am sorry."

"You don't owe me an apology. As Liona said, the man out there who is King, I shouldn't have hit. He isn't the one I'm angry at."

"But are we really so different from the Lance and Allura you know?" she asked.

Keith turned around and stared into her eyes. So much like Allura's, full of endless empathy and welcoming kindness. No one could help loving Allura in some way. It was no wonder he'd wanted to be in love with her enough to try to force it.

"I don't know," he lied.

~~.~~

Liona ran her hand through Romy's curly brown hair and listened to Thea recite the latest poem she'd written. Usually, the last place she wanted to be was sitting still and listening to Thea and her poems but she'd missed it when she was gone. She'd missed her annoying little sisters, who'd followed her around, wanting her attention. Liona took in a deep breathe.

_Wow, you look ready to cry again._

_ Like you weren't crying like a baby the whole time I was gone._

_ Yeah, the whole five minutes._

_ It was over two hours, asshole._

_ How long, Liona?_

The question no one had asked her yet. She sighed and looked up from Thea, over her blonde head and met her brother's blue eyes. _Little over two months, give or take. Not as long as the pasts version of mom and dad were the far future though. I... You know it explains so much that they knew who I was. They were acting like parents, I thought it was some weird parental instinct and they knew._

She stopped and bit her lip, and also to clap along with Romy. "I loved it, Thea. How many more poems do you have about clouds? How many did this make, fifteen?"

_Thousand_, Al said in her head.

"I think," ten year old Thea sat down and flipped through her large binder. "This is poem number 21," she explained.

Liona's eyes widened. "Wow. You do like words."

Thea smiled. "I heard Al, tell Nanny you disappeared into thin air. That means vanished. Where did you go?"

_Good job, making sure no one under 11 heard about me going missing, there Al._

_Shut up, I tried to drag Nanny further down the hall, you know how she is about letting Romy roam with only Thea watching her._

"I went to someplace that looks like here, and had brave people like just like here, only I was homesick because I wasn't here. And I didn't have you, Romy and Al to annoy me..."

Thea tapped her pencil against her cheek. "I think I'm going to try to write a story about it."

_A story,_ the twins thought together. _I hope she doesn't want to recite it out loud,_ Al added. Liona found herself disagreeing, right now she would sit through a story even if it was a thousand words and horrible.

"I can't wait, Al can you take Romy, she's asleep and heavy."

Al picked up their little sister and put her on the couch, that no one was sitting on. He eyed Liona. _How come you aren't hurt, I saw you get thrashed, you should still be bruised._

_Far future has awesome medical advantages._

"Cool!"

"Hey no fair talking without me!" Thea yelled.

"Shh," they both said and pointed to Romy.

"Okay, read us another poem, Thea. In honor of this idiot here, make it about Fire, can you?"

Thea grinned and started flipping through her binder. "I think I have an epic poem on fire with Daddy in it."

_Seriously, we were never this weird right?_ Liona asked

_You were, I was always awesome._

_You wish, I am way more awesome... I feel bad for pushing them away Al. If they knew who I was and I pushed them away because they weren't Mom and Dad..._

Liona met her brother's eyes, he'd perched on the chair behind Thea, as she flipped through her pages looking for her epic poem about their father and fire. He shook his head subtly. _No, come on, don't do that Liona. Plus if they are anything like mom and dad, I bet the understood. Right?_

_They were a lot like them. Mom was just really young, it was so strange relating to her as a teenager...she felt my age, more than four years older, let alone like Mom. Yet she was so much like Mom. It was disconcerting. Daddy, was...he was so much like Dad only not really a King. Not yet, he hadn't accepted Arus yet. I don't think he even fully understood it._

_Weird. Dad not planet tripping sometimes, and Mom as a teenager._

_Yeah._

"Found it!"

Al looked down at the page, watched as Thea started to unclip it from the binder and his eyes widened. _Crap, I had to say Fire. It's four pages._

_Alfor Keith McClain!_

~~.~~

Keith handed Lance a beer the second he opened the door to his house.

"Mira called."

Lance looked around. "Where is Akira?"

"In his room studying Ancient Arusian. He's not happy about it, but if we're going to be stuck here, we'll be training. While we talk, he can study. He's way behind on his AA."

Lance shook his head.

"What?" Keith said.

"Nothing, just sometimes I can't tell you and Nanny apart."

Keith looked at Lance's jaw pointedly. "Looks like I already hit you."

Lance laughed. "Yeah... it's a weird mess of timelines according to your wife."

"Yeah. I couldn't follow her, why I decided to listen to her."

"What I figured. I thought I'd let Allura deal with Keith, the other one. Then Mira. And Liona needed time with Al and her sisters. And I..."

Keith waited.

Lance swallowed. "Shit. Keith, I woke up last night, in a cold sweat, heart hammering. The planet shaking, telling me something horrible had happened, something was gone, missing. It was vital. I stumbled to the control room. I checked everything I could think of. I checked the kids rooms - fell for Al and hers stuffed beds. Me, I feel for stuffed beds, someone who did the same damn trick," he rolled his eyes. "I was too late anyway, but..."

"Arus already told you she was gone, what more could have done."

"Maybe found another one of those damn devices and followed her. She wouldn't have had to be alone."

Keith shook his head. "Al, didn't even do that, and it probably killed him not too."

Lance shrugged. "Al has more sense than I do, he'll make a much better King."

Keith snorted. "True. Yet, you're doing better than I envisioned when it all became clear you'd be king."

"Thanks. I think."

Keith laughed. "She okay?"

"Liona. She's... I don't know yet. She wasn't going to completely break in the control room but she did cry. Said she killed someone who was out to kill me, Keith..."

Keith paled. "Killed?"

Lance nodded equally sober. "You... he...This is annoyingly complicated. He was rude as hell to her. She sounded like she does when you piss her off during training, purposely pushing all your buttons to try rile you up."

"Doesn't work."

"Worked on a young you, who at first didn't know who she was... then? He hates me and Allura."

"He was using Liona to get back at you?" Keith said. "I...I can be mean when I'm hurt. I lash out, you know this. I did it to you after Tara."

"To me, not my daughter, Keith," Lance's eyes narrowed.

"And I never would. But he..this other me. He's not a father. And he's never seen you be a father."

"Yeah. I'm trying to focus on big picture. Why I'm not pissed that apparently a sixteen year old Pidge was hot for Liona... poor Pidge, when He-You said that I thought Pidge might pass out from the craziness of the idea. Could not wrap his genius brain around it."

Keith laughed. "Ages would make it reasonable."

"I guess. Though, considering the boy she has a crush on. I'd prefer sixteen year old Pidge."

Keith laughed harder.

"Wait someday you might have a daughter, you'll see."

Keith grinned. "In nine months, maybe I will."

Lance nearly choked on his beer. "What?"

"Mira told me tonight, we were about to celebrate..."

"That is why she and Allura have been whispering."

Keith nodded. "Been wondering on that myself."

Lance grinned and hugged his friend. "Second best news of the day. Besides my Firebrand coming blazing back into sight. Quite the entrance too."

Keith pulled back. "She'll be fine, Lance. We'll help her through whatever the damage is on her first Kill, and all the time travel stuff. Promise. Send her down here, okay?"

Lance nodded. "I should go back up there, I just needed..."

"Hey, yeah, always here," Keith said with a lopsided smile.


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter Seventy-three

Liona looked up from where she sat on the floor, busy listening to the buzz of Al's thoughts. Not the words, not even really his feelings, just the constant hum of him thinking and being who he was. Nanny had walked into the room to take the kids to get ready for bed, almost squeezed the life out of Liona and told her stop playing warrior. As if, Liona rolled her eyes again at the memory. Warrior Queen; isn't that what Lia had called her? She smiled, she was felt almost perfectly content.

After Nanny had left, Al felt he should go on duty; he was supposed to be on shift watching the front Castle doors, paying his dues. Technically she was supposed to be there too this night. She remembered. She nodded to him, agreed she got to skip it and mentioned maybe he did too but Al was too conscientious to buy it. Plus, he knew she wanted to be alone, for a tiny bit, and he knew when she'd gotten enough of the silence around her, she would seek out Mom and Dad.

She'd gone to her father's office first, found it empty and then walked into the control room and found Mira. Mira ran to her and hugged her, touched her face and told her how proud she was her. There was no reason to have to tell Mira anything, Liona knew she'd seen it all the moment Liona came home.

Liona had almost started crying on her aunt's shoulder but she'd stiffened her resolve and pulled up straight. Dad and mom only she thought and she asked where her father was. He'd gone to see Keith, present time Keith, not the visitor from the past. He was with Allura.

Which had made Liona run to her mother's office. Liona wasn't sure why she'd run there, fearing, what? Fighting, pain for her mother, tears? More hurt for the Keith of the past, who despite getting on her nerves at almost all times had been so much like now Keith. In charge, sharp, watching and taking everything in to take care of everyone. The leader of the team, the Hero of Arus.

He couldn't die, he couldn't die any more than her father, and it had felt just as personal, and it'd terrified her to hit the button but what other recourse had she had? It'd been the same thing as having to kill Anna... That witch.

Everything was quiet behind her mother's door, so Liona had moved, sat on the opposite wall and tapped into the buzz of Al's life. Held her knees, closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the fact if she wanted too she could eavesdrop on Al at any moment and possibly embarrass him if she caught the right thought. Though they rarely did that once they'd turned thirteen and both had accidentally run into thoughts that made them wish they could bleach their brains.

Steps came down the hall, Liona looked up and felt a lump immediately form in her throat. Coran had an overnight bag over his shoulder, he looked space-lagged, his gray beard looked mussed, it hit her he probably didn't know she'd vanished. Only she had, she'd vanished, and he'd been trapped in that awful spell reliving the worst moments of his life. She flew up, she tackled him in a fierce hug.

"I love you, I love you, I love you; No matter how crazy and independent I act. And how many times I will not listen to you, I love you!" she shouted as she kissed his cheeks.

Coran arms came around her, he tried to push her off. He was never one for extreme showing of affection despite his soft heart and sweet soul. "Princess Liona, I was only gone for two days."

"But I wasn't, I was gone, I was gone for months and you were..." She stared into Coran's brown eyes and felt the tears start to threaten again and blinked and blinked. "Something happened to you, I couldn't stop it..." her voice broke, she fought for oxygen.

The door to Allura's office opened, Allura and Past Keith hurrying out side. "We heard a scream," Allura said, when she saw Liona hugging Coran. "Liona, Sweetheart?"

Liona moved from Coran, turned to her mother and buried her face into Allura's shoulder. "He was trapped, he was trapped in a King's spell, he was in agony and there was nothing I could do. I didn't get there in time, I screwed up..." Liona couldn't stop it now she was crying.

She hated that Coran and Keith were there, but she couldn't stop now that she with her mother. She felt her mom's soft touch, felt warm fingers catching and trying to try the onslaught of tears that had been building since the minute she'd vanished from this time. She hiccuped, fought for a breath. "I'm sorry," she said, not really what she was apologizing for.

"What on Arus is going on here, Allura!" Coran yelled. "What is wrong Princess Liona, this is quite the un-characteristic display emotion. What have you kept from me while I was away? Captain?"

"Coran, we haven't had time to inform you," Allura said, her hand stroking through Liona's hair. "Liona, come on, let's take you to your room. Get you showered and changed, tucked in."

"I don't need sleep. I want Daddy, he went to Uncle Keith's bring him back," Liona looked at her mother. Allura met her gaze her blue eyes full of love and parental concern and knowledge. It was that that Liona had been craving from the Allura in that past but hadn't been able to see. Whether she'd known about Liona or not, she wasn't her mother, wasn't a mother. "Please?"

"I'll call him as soon as you step into the shower, how is that?"

"Excuse me but I am confused, Keith is right here?"

"No, no, he's not," Allura said.

"I'm Keith Kogane, Coran but I'm from the past, I've uh time traveled here."

"Balderdash, there is no such thing," Coran said.

"Allura, tend to Liona, I'll explain to Coran," Mira's voice said from behind him.

Liona wiped at her eyes and smiled at her aunt. "Thank you."

"Anything, Honey."

Allura hugged her daughter to her and they started to walk, Liona saw her and Mira quietly nod their thanks, possibly have a short mind-conversation. Liona looked back as they made their way further away. "Will he be okay alone with them?"

"You know him best, what do you think?" Allura asked.

"Depends on how he decides to behave. Like the Captain or the man who feels betrayed."

"I think you've learned from this experience, you sound wiser."

As they turned the corner toward her bedroom, Al came running from the other direction in his guard uniform. "Are you okay, your mood suddenly when haywire on me!" He stopped short, noticing her tearstained face and he blanched and stepped back.

"I'll be okay, Mom and Dad will handle it. I just...saw Coran."

"Uh, okay..."

"I'm sure you're sister will explain later, get back on duty, okay?" Allura said.

"Yes, Mom, I mean ma'am," Al said, trying to go back to focusing on duty, and he turned around.

_Staying linked, sis._

_Me too._ Liona said and she took a breath. "Damn it, too many people know I just bawled like a baby."

Allura gave a small chuckle as she led her daughter toward her bath. "Liona, you have been through what had to have been a trying experience, one with no guidebook or guide rules of how to deal with. Please don't be so hard on yourself. Even strong, young women such as yourself feel deeply and need to cry it out now and again."

Liona nodded and noticed her mother starting a bath for her. "A bath?"

"I think you need a good long soak, I always did after anything emotionally taxing," her mother said and focused on picking out bath soaps and salts for the bath. "From what you have shared, what I have heard from the Keith you brought with you and what just happened with the man you consider your grandfather... I would say you have been through something quite emotionally taxing and that that is an understatement. It seems the far future has mended you physical. Now it's up to me and your father to help you mentally." She looked up then and Liona saw the fierceness in her mother's eyes that came up when her mother was ready to fight anything in her path to do what she knew was right. There was armor up too, Liona knew her mother, her mother was worried and scared for her. Liona thought maybe she should feel guilty about it, or upset she was making her mother worry but right now all she could feel about it was happy she was loved. She felt loved.

Allura finished with the bath and then walked behind her daughter and lifted her hair. "You're hair needs a cut, it's grown quite a few inches," she said as she unzipped the uniform.

"I like it long," Liona admitted.

"Well, a trim then," Allura said as she helped her step out of her uniform.

"You'll call Daddy?" Liona asked, feeling like she couldn't relax in the tub of bubbles and warmth if she didn't know her father would be with her mother when she came out of the bathroom.

"He's already on his way here, he just told me," Allura smiled.

Liona grinned.

"I'll find your favorite pair of sweats and a t-shirt okay, get in."

Liona nodded and followed her mother's orders, she sank into the warm water, breathed in the cinnamon and apple scent of the soap and then sank under the water for a few moments. When she popped back up she saw the clothes waiting for her on the counter, and she heard her father's voice along with her mother's through the door.

"Home," she thought.

~~.~~

Keith didn't listen as the older version of Lady Mira explained everything to Coran. Instead he went and sat at the control room computer. It was comforting, it had all the same buttons. He had a feeling however that it wouldn't react the same way if he tried to push them so he fought the urge. He wanted to do a sweep, check the planet, make sure everything was okay. Find out who they were fighting. This was a Castle on alert, ready for a fight at a moment's notice, he knew the signs, he lived the signs. The same protocols seemed to be in action that he had implemented in the past now. Could it possibly still be Lotor? Zarkon? The Drules?

Keith shuddered, to think that that war would go on for fifteen more years. Yet if it was another threat, why was their another threat? Why couldn't this planet, the place he'd vowed to spend the rest of his life protecting even if it meant giving his own ever get a break?

Voltron.

The answer came to him as he asked it. He wished all such questions were so easy. Coran looked over at him and he met the older mans eyes. It was looking at Coran he could see that fifteen years at truly past. Allura, Lance, Mira, Hunk and even Pidge hadn't really shown it all that much. A life of exercise and fighting had kept them young and in shape. Lean. Coran was all gray, his clothes and eyes were the only brown on him now. He thought of him in the air, in that spell...he shuddered and remembered Lance had come in seconds before all hell had broke loose. Lance had come in cocky and happy, Coran was safe.

Rescued. By the King from the King's Spell. Keith looked away from Coran, shaking his head, unable to process it, to understand it, to even comprehend it.

Lance was a cocky, full of himself, seat of his pants pilot, who didn't follow rules and had no patience for decorum or the unwritten polite rules of any society. A king? And he was all wrong for Allura, Keith thought not for the first time. He'd thought for years, hating the flirting for more reasons than any jealous, though admitted to that. He wasn't right for Allura...though the future kept arguing with him about it. Allura had to what was right for Arus, her people, she had be a diplomat, tactful. She had to follow traditions and rules that were vital to keeping the peace and to keep her people happy. Lance's scoffing of more than half of them...

"You're brooding."

Mira's voice made him jump, inside his skin, luckily not out of it. Also he didn't make a sound of surprise. He turned in the seat and faced her. "I was trying to wrap my mind around something. It's not going to happen I fear."

"Which is?" she asked.

He met her gaze, this Mira was a lot like the one in his present. Warm brown eyes, sweet face, she oozed calm and patience. He couldn't help but feel at ease with her. Even when he knew she could probe his mind and knew about things to come. Speaking of which. "Will Pidge fix the device?"

"Yes. You will get home. The Planet, which I have to believe is the truth, has schemed to make sure the timelines align, they wouldn't allow you not to get home. They probably foresaw your stay here."

"In the past you told Liona it was an Unknown Hand, the Gods?"

"I've come to share Lance's perspective. It's Arus. She knows what is best for her, for Voltron, her creation, all planets can speak. Not all planets have people willing to listen. Arus is special that way, with Seer's, now and again a special King and the telepathy and empathy of its people."

"Lance talks to the planet?"

Mira nodded. "That was what you can wrap your mind around, yes, I do recall all of you having issues with it. Except Allura."

"Right and tell me, is he a good King."

Mira shook her head. "I will answer no such commands, Keith. Nor answer it if you ask it as you should have done. I will not give you my opinion because you will never agree. It's an organic thing, your mind can only change on its own as you see fit. Only what can change your mind on the subject can be what changes your mind on the subject... oh that was a mouthful," Mira said with a laugh.

"You're the only Seer here?"

"Unfortunately. I'm glad to know that Tarus and Ara are still alive, that there are others in your time. I hope this means that others will be born and raised. Arus needs her Seers, I hope it brings out the Elemental magics as well, the sorcerers, the White Magics of course. Not like the Witch you saw Liona destroy."

Keith mouth was a thin line. "All witches I've dealt with can't be trusted."

"Yet, not all witches or wizards are evil," Mira said. "They had a hand in the creation of Voltron. Would call him evil?"

"In the right hands."

"And Arus' royal lineage was chosen to speak for Voltron for a reason, to make sure it was to never fall into the wrong hands..." she trailed off, looked to the side for a moment.

Keith studied her face, but soon she was back facing him smiling. "You've been asked to babysit me haven't you?"

"Yes. But I also have another mission, one giving to me by my Inner Sight."

Keith frowned, his anger rose. "Let me guess, I must forgive them! Or the future of Voltron hangs in the balance."

"Yes."

Keith clenched his fists and his jaw. "They betrayed me."

"Yes. But not with the intent to harm you. Falling in love isn't something people ever do intentionally. I think you must have realized that, since you were intentionally trying."

Keith glared at her, his mouth open. "What?"

"You love Allura, there is no doubt of that. You will do anything for her. Risk your life, dream walk, fly into the most dangerous of situations and face the most sneakiest of foes. You will stand up to the worst monster for her and her people, for Arus. You are the Knight of Arus, The Hero. You do it for love, honor and because it's who you are in your heart. You are a noble man, Keith Kogane. It is a beautiful thing. You wanted to love her, the Princess. You wanted to love her because you believed she loved you..."

"A lie."

"No. She believed she loved you, her sincerity was real. Her heart was genuine. In this time, she and Lance fell in love in a slower pace, it was quickened by Time's hand. THere was never any time travel. The were stuck in a cave for two weeks, talking, laughing, growing closer and that is when she began to fall. I think you know Lance fell for her a long time ago. It was after that she was confused, and tried to push things further with you... which here in our time, made you question your feelings, your intentions and your wants and your needs. How you really felt. You saw her with Lance... you watched them. You aren't blind. She and Lance kissed after a Ball. The Ball I think the witch Anna destroyed. It was quick, unexpected kiss, brought on by love, and yearning. Years of holding back by Lance, and weeks of want from Allura. Allura pulled back and turned around and ran to you. To break up but you spoke first. You told her you loved her but weren't in love with her, you told her you saw her with Lance, you saw what was going on there. You told her to follow her heart."

"Lance is all wrong for her," Keith said.

"No, no is isn't. But yes, you've thought that. Before you really see them together."

Keith turned around, he didn't want to look at her. "It didn't happen like that, and I could've, I could've loved Allura, I... I think..." he frowned, because he wasn't sure. He was almost sure he'd just lied, had lied. It was all a lie. "I dreamed about Tara, before all this started. Before she told me, before I realized, I dreamed about Tara and she told me something similar."

"Tara's spirit clings around you, not because she's holding tight to you but because you have never set her free."

Keith spun around, facing Mira again, he stared at her. She held his gaze, he didn't know what to do, or say, his mind was spinning as he tried to process what she had said.


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter Seventy-four

Allura paced her daughter's bedroom, hands wringing, fingers playing with her engagement ring - in an old comforting habit. There were so many unknowns, but her instincts were shouting at her that what Liona had gone through had been important, vital and it wasn't over yet. It wasn't done, the journey wasn't over, and it was evident in the fact that there were now two Keiths. One so young, so angry. Keith didn't get angry - well he did, he was a passionate man of ideals and feelings, Allura reminded herself - but he didn't get angry noticeably easily. He was a calm in a storm, with the energy cackling around him, not from him. He was a raw nerve here, this younger version of Keith and Liona had brought him here. Allura couldn't help feeling it was for a reason, that maybe they were supposed to help calm him down. If only she had an idea how. Keith felt betrayed by her and Lance; his best and closest friends, the two people out of a small group he trusted without hesitation.

But the problem was she had no time right now for this strange, younger Keith. Her daughter had killed someone, to save her father. She was a mixture of happy and unnerved. Liona was one of the strongest souls Allura had ever come across, her daughter awed her daily in her actions. With her strength, her heart, but mostly it was her boldness. Yet, Liona was a girl, she was fifteen. She's shot down the enemy in Red Lion, but to kill someone face to face, it was so different. The first time Allura had done so, she'd cried for two nights without sleep claiming her, and it'd been with Keith, Lance, Nanny and Coran all there for her. Liona had been all alone. Her beautiful, brave girl all alone... Liona had never been alone a day in her life.

Independent as Liona was, she was never alone because of Al. Al and her were linked for life. Allura herself had a strong bond with her all her children, their thoughts, their feelings, a link that could never vanish - unless one was gone from the timeline it seemed. It'd woken her, much like the planet had woken Lance; only she'd been so tired and Al had been so busy calming and collecting himself, Allura supposed at the time she hadn't realized what woke her. Thinking it was Lance climbing out of the bed, until she'd woken in the morning with a sense of panic from her son and her daughter missing from her head. Allura was trying not blame herself, she couldn't have stopped it, Liona would have shown back up when she reappeared no matter what. Allura hadn't failed her.

She wouldn't, Allura thought, stopping her pacing and looking at the door to Liona's room as it opened and Lance walked in. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Instead of woken up in the middle of night and never come back to bed. He'd been busy in the control room trying to figure out what the planet was trying to tell him from 1 am until Al ran in four hours later, and Lance had woken everyone in the Castle up. He had a beard instead of his usually carefully maintained scruff, his leather jacket, and the shirt and sweat pants he'd worn to bed. He looked so perfectly him, she instantly felt comforted and smiled at him, as he crossed the room and pulled her into a hug.

She heard him inhale, the second his nose hit her hair, taking in the scent of her hair and her shampoo; taking a moment to calm himself and enjoy her for just a moment. Allura did the same, burying her nose into his neck, taking in the leather and the smoky scent that was simply Lance.

"Is she okay? You said she broke down?" Lance asked his voice laced with impatience, as he moved away from her enough to lock their gazes.

"In the past it seems Coran was locked in a Kings's spell. He came home, she saw him in the hallway outside my office when I was in there with Keith and she broke down. She was blaming herself for the spell..." Allura shook her head.

"What the hell is a King's spell," Lance said.

Allura shook her head. "I'm not sure, I think I remember something about them in the catacombs, where the True King prophecies were found but I haven't gotten to that section yet in my archiving," she sighed and turned. Looking at the door to the bathroom. "She felt so upset, but she said you saved him," she turned and smiled at Lance.

"Did I?" Lance smirked. "From the time that Keith came from?" he frowned. "We were barely together, I didn't even know I was some destined True King, my connection to the lions, the planet...except that I never wanted to think about leaving Arus, but I thought that was because of how I felt about you."

"I don't know, I don't really understand anything. Mira told me she would explain things better, later. She's with the younger version of Keith, right now. She's adamant he not know about them, by the way."

Lance nodded. "Keith told me. Our Keith," he rolled his eyes. "We've been in weird situations before..."

"You don't know the half of it, Daddy," Liona said, as she walked out of her the bathroom, toweling her damp hair.

"Meaning?" Allura and her husband said together, stepping forward, hand in hand towards their daughter.

Liona looked at them both, then glanced at her bed. "You're gonna want to sit down." She raised her right eyebrow at them.

Allura moved only her eyes, glancing at her husband's profile. _Is she doing my regal face?_

Infused with his laughter, Allura heard Lance's voice in her head. _ Oh yeah, she means sit down, it wasn't really a question._

_Hmpph,_ Allura thought. "Why don't we all sit," Allura said.

Liona shook her head. "I can't, Mom, I just... I need to move to get this all out. It's all too much, and I have questions too and things you two have to hear you won't like at all. And I just...please?"

_Happier now, Allura? She really asked._

Allura inwardly sighed. _I can't help it, I'm her mother, I don't like her being all In Charge yet, it unsettles me. She's so grown up._

_Still my little girl if you ask me,_ Lance said, loud and clear but he pulled Allura to the bed, and they both sat down. "We're sitting, Firebrand."

Allura squeezed Lance's hand almost as hard as she'd been crushing it the night she gave birth to Liona and Al - she'd broken his hand she remembered suddenly so she let up a little bit - and gave Liona an encouraging smile, at least she hoped it was encouraging and not just awkwardly nervous. She had to be strong for her daughter, she took small breathes in and out and cursed herself for being so much like Nanny.

They waited.

Liona stood in front of them, holding a towel, her red hair hanging wet and tangled past her shoulders and her eyes on the wall behind their heads. Lance cleared his throat, Allura waited for him to somehow say the perfect thing for Liona to hear like he always did.

_What should I do?_ he asked her.

_You don't know! she shrieked into his skull._

_Nanny tone, Nanny tone in the head, Allura. Migraine, instant migraine._

_Sorry, but you don't know!_

Lance cleared his throat again. "Liona?"

"I don't, there is so much to say..."

"Okay, Fireband, just start at the beginning," Lance said.

"Didn't Al already cover that?"

"Start at what happened where you were? Okay," Lance said.

Liona nodded. "Okay, okay," she started to pace. "Give me a minute."

_It's been longer than a minute_, Allura groused one minute and thirty seconds later.

_No complaining until three minutes, Allura. You're so impatient._

_Says mister can't keep his leg still._

_If she'd let me I'd be pacing too, so would you. We'd be a family of pacers..._ Lance laughed in her head deep and throaty.

Allura fought not to smile and failed.

Liona noticed, and rolled her eyes at them. "Stop flirting with Mom."

"I wasn't flirting."

"No, he was laughing at something he said that was very lame and not at all cool," Allura said, nudging him in the ribs.

"And, you smiled, Baby."

Allura felt her daughter's eyes on them and she looked back. "Do you have your thoughts together?" she asked hopefully.

Liona was grinning at them. "I missed you two, being all _get-a-room_, all the time. You know come to think of it, get off my bed... Eeeew, go sit on the window seat, what was I thinking, by the Arusian Gods!" Liona leaped forward and grabbed them by the arms.

As she bodily pushed them over to her window seat, Lance turned and asked her. "Are you ready to start talking?"

"Yes, no, maybe," Liona admitted. She blew out a frustrated breath. "I think I need to start with the two of you. When I got to the Castle, I went undercover as a maid, Nanny hired me and everything. I knew how to answer all the questions right. She loved Fleur... I made up a name, when you caught me in the garden before I was even hired, though I told you had been already, Dad. Well, one of the first things I saw was you and mom making out in an alcove."

They glanced at each other, Allura took a breath. "Past Keith told me that we got together months before I remember it, that the time line was sped up. He mentioned we went forward in time. To the place you just came from?"

"Yes. It, you found out you were married, that you had me, Al, the girls..." Liona started to walk in a circle. "Then you came back. From Castle gossip what happened was. Dad started seriously dating some woman named Lara, and you started to seriously date Keith - and why didn't you ever tell us you and Uncle Keith dated? I mean isn't that something Al, me and Akira deserved to know?"

Allura felt Lance's right eyebrow raise. "And exactly why would you, your brother and Akira need to know that information. What for?"

"I don't know, it just seems like a weird thing to keep secret."

"It wasn't a secret Liona, it wasn't of any importance."

Liona looked at Allura. "Really?"

Allura felt the full weight of her daughters stare. "Yes, really. Keith and I have the same relationship now that we had then. Best friends, close, we're brother and sister by choice. For a time I had different thoughts in my head but they were the fantasies of someone who wasn't in love, someone who was thinking about about an ideal. Liona I was brought up much more sheltered than you were, I didn't know anything about boys until I was much older than you."

"Well, I guess Dad taught you a bit sooner in the timeline I was in and that Keith has to go back too - and I'm worried about him, I don't think he sees you as a sister."

"He does, I sensed it," Allura told her. "It's the lying that is hurting him. And when you two went to the future he found out more lies."

Liona frowned. "Mira, and Laurie, she's a Princess from the future, she said it was so important he forgive his versions of you two. The three of you are so important to the Voltron Force."

Lance frowned. "He is the Hero. He is connected to the lions, Black especially, which connects him to Arus, the leader. Without him there isn't a Force, really. No one else can be the leader until the next leader is to be found. At least I think that is what the planet with Red's help told me once, while he and I were fighting a lot, when I first took the crown and we were butting heads when it came to leadership."

"You two butted heads a lot where I was, but the timeline needed you to step up and be King. And I remember the stories about how hard it was for you, and you had to do so fast... I was so afraid you'd fight it and not save Coran," Liona's voice broke. "But, you did it, of course, accepted who you are, and the link to Arus became full. Though, I barely had time to notice it, I was too scared, my arms were itching telling me about Keith. Warning me, I got to the catacombs, where the True King Prophecies were just as Keith tripped the trap. My only way to save him was to tackle him and hit the button that would take us to the future."

Allura sensed Liona went somewhere else very quickly after she said what she said. "Liona?"

"She was from the same future. Anna, the witch I killed..." Liona said her gaze lowering to the floor, her voice falling to a whisper.

Lance moved, bent his body down so he was eye level with his daughter, put his hands on her shoulders. Allura didn't need to see his face, or hear the words to know he was looking her straight in the eye and saying something to her telepathically. Allura edged herself a bit to the side, on the window seat so she could see her daughter's face.

_I am here too_, she said when she saw Liona bit her lip, a nervous habit that Liona had that mirrored her own.

Liona moved her eyes and met hers for a moment, before turning back to her fathers, her head nodding slighting. "It's like all points went there, or came from there. You and Allura went there, from the time I went too. They came from there, to here, to grab mom's diary. They wanted details on the Ball, where you first kissed, I think. Anna, I don't think she knew the time line had been altered by another visit. She only knew the King of the future, Coran, he and his children had gotten Voltron back, she didn't know you and mom had helped them. I heard them talking about ending the McClain line before it began, it's why I wouldn't stop fighting, even though that one man. He was so huge, and he hurt me... I was bleeding but I couldn't let him vanish like the other guy did, but then he vanished with me. And then, well I think he thought he killed me..."

Allura felt Lance's rage spike, hard, furious and possibly ready to spout out of his mouth in fury of words, pacing and punching that couldn't possibly help the situation. She moved quickly, hand on the back of his neck which was on fire with heat. _Calm, focus on her, the man is dead._

"Did some kill him," Lance asked, through clenched teeth.

"Yes, I killed him. I killed him then I killed Anna," Liona said in a monotone and then stopped for a second. She stopped and swallowed. "I had too, I had to do it all before she could slit your throat, and cut off your head. She hated you, I don't know why, she was from the future, she had this thing about purity of blood in the royal line. It made no sense, but I don't think she knew the prophecies, of if she did she didn't care..." Liona's voice was faraway, and before she trailed off she'd falling into babbling a nervous trait she'd gotten from her father. "I, I... I put one of my swords through his chest then I was so far away from you and her I thought magma pistol and it formed and I... I shot her in the head."

Allura could feel Lance's emotions rolling all over the place, mostly focusing in on love and anger but the anger wasn't finding him much peace since the threat was already dealt with and he couldn't punch it in the face. She herself reach out to her daughter's mind, stopping short of delving into her inner thoughts. Liona was frightened, unnerved but a part of her was perfectly calm and not upset at all by what she had done. It however wasn't the part that had looking unbalanced on her feet right now and bit green.

Lance's hands fell to Liona's hips, to help her balance. "Hey, breathe, Liona. Breathe."

Liona nodded, she breathed in and out. "I was so scared but mostly I was angry. This witch, this woman wanted to kill you, wanted to kill you and my whole family before it was even born. Years of McClains I didn't even know about - yet. She was so full of hate. She almost killed you both the first week I was in the Castle, with some bomb. I was so frightened, I thought I'd get out the garden and find you two in pieces," Liona stopped and gulped for air.

"We're fine," Lance said, scooping her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "We're fine. And we were fine back there too, where you left us right? In the timeline we have to send that angry Keith back too right, Firebrand, to make things all right again?"

"I think you're supposed to try make him less angry," Liona said, sniffling against his shoulder. Allura ran her hand through Liona's damp hair feeling her daughter calming down a bit, feeling something coming together in her daughter's head.

"I'd do anything for this family, for Arus. It scared me a little bit."

Allura knew the feeling and she hated her daughter had felt it so young, but she was a soldier, born into it in a way even she hadn't been, though despite Coran and Nanny's attempts to not let it happen she had been born to it. "It scares me too," Allura said.

Lance stood up, picking up Liona off the floor with him. Liona swatted him, but otherwise didn't really protest, staying with the hug. He smiled and he carried her over to her bed. Allura got there first and pulled back the covers. He placed her down and sat down at the edge. "It's good it scares you, we only kill the enemy when we have too, when they give us no choice, we aren't supposed to like to taking a life. Even when it's protect our home and our families. Even when we feel anger towards them...which you know I do and you inherited my temper, we rage and we want to punch things, or in your case slice and set them on fire..." Lance winked at her.

Liona settled herself into her bed fluffling her pillows as Lance tucked in the blankets around her. "Yeah," she said with a half smile.

"You did good, and we can talk about this as much as want or don't want. Anytime..." Lance said.

Allura nodded. "Night or day," she added.

Liona yawned. "I know but... I don't... I think... It might get changed anyway... I mean I will always go back in time, apparently it's a fixed point. And somehow I will always get back here...another fixed thing in time. But...Keith being set back, it's supposed to fix something that was broken will all these timelines. Things will start to match up, you'll become the Lance and Allura who went to the future, and met me before I was born..."

Allura wasn't sure about the sound of that, Lance brushed some hair off of Liona's face. "Don't worry about that," he said.

"I'm not, Daddy. I just don't want you guys too. I believe it's all going to be fine. I really do," she said on another yawn.

Allura felt the sincerity and the strength of Liona's faith falling off of her just as her daughter closed her eyes and fell asleep. Probably her first real sleep for months. Months, it felt impossible when she'd been gone only hours, yet it was so obviously true. Lance stood up, grabbed Allura's hand and walked them quickly out of them. Allura could feel his pent up emotions raging to get out, she had a lot to scream out herself. They'd be talking for most the night she felt, it'd be another night on Arus where they got little to no sleep.


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter Seventy-five

He'd run.

It had not been gentlemanly, or polite...but given how intimate, and in his face everyone was always being with him Keith didn't feel all that bad about being impolite. He did feel however like he acted like a coward when he hadn't been able to handle the last words that Mira had thrown at him and she hadn't done it completely unkindly. He didn't think she could, there was something intrinsically kind about her; it was a warmth in her eyes, in any timeline.

But she was also a stranger, in any timeline, even if maybe she was on the way to being a friend in his present. He didn't know her here, he didn't know how close they were. Her bringing up Tara, the way she had, so boldly and...

Being right.

Keith bowed his head, he could smell Tara if he closed his eyes and concentrated hard enough. Always. He did it when he meditated and lied to himself that it wasn't on purpose. He wondered if somewhere still in this castle was the wedding dress, kept in storage, waiting for him to...What?

_Let go._

Her voice whispered in his mind, he wondered if maybe he should have forgotten the lilt of her voice by now, the tone of her voice, the way she over enunciated her g's. He swallowed over the lump in his throat and jumped when he heard soft footsteps behind him. He spun around and found he wasn't at all surprised to find that Mira had tracked him down.

"Are you my babysitter?" he asked, his eyes on the voltcom she wore.

"No. I've volunteered to help you."

Keith blinked at her, thrown again, he shook his head. "Did you follow me?"

"No, I just surmised where you go from experience. This is where you meditate, isn't it? In your time?"

Keith nodded, turning to face the lake. "I can think here."

"What are you thinking?"

"I am confused by why you brought up Tara?"

"To make you think," Mira said. "To look harder at why you feel so angry and betrayed. Because you know you and Allura would never have worked out."

"Lying to me is okay then?" Keith snapped.

"Of course not, but think about the reasons. Think about her reasons, her age, her life...and the timing."

"Timing. Timing, time seems to be the main reason all of this is screwed up. And they've lied about that. Their whole friendship happened in three months that was seven minutes while the rest of us were sleeping... it's why... It never sat right. How close they were, suddenly, it never... It was all wrong, I never bought it completely. I shouldn't have accepted it."

He thought back, how weird they were, the things they didn't remember, he should have been more suspicious, he should never have trusted them as much as he did. He'd let his feelings get in the way of his instincts...

"You trust them."

"I was wrong."

"Keith," Mira said, genuine warmth in his name.

He turned and met her eyes, he hardened his resolve against her sincerity. "I was wrong."

"To trust Lance and Allura? I don't think so, you trust them implicitly for a reason, they are two of the few people you do and it is for good reason. It always has been, and it's been instinctual. It would be unlike you to not trust your instincts."

Keith frowned, he threw the rock and watched it arc in the air and hit the lake. He looked at her again. "What would you know about me and my instincts?"

"I've known you for over twenty years, don't forget."

"I've barely known you a week, and I'm not really big on trusting people right now, no matter what my..."

"Instincts tell you?"

"They lied, she lied..." Keith clenched his jaw.

"You never specify Lance."

Keith clenched his fist, he took a few steps away, fighting the urge to run again. He looked out at the starry Arusian night, so many stars, so much more than one could ever see from Earth at night. His eyes fell on the moons, half moons mirrored in the sky, he shut his eyes.

"When you punched our time Lance, did it help?"

Keith sighed. "No."

"Going to try again when you make it home?"

Yes, he thought and this time he wouldn't pull the punch because when he locked eyes with Lance in his present, Lance wouldn't startled or shocked. He'd take it... Like a man, like a fri- "Crap," Keith muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I hope you find a way to forgive them because true unity is so vital to the Force. I don't totally understand the deal with all the timelines, the changes, the differences, the way it's being realigned by Lance and Allura from your time going forward and then everything going backwards in a way. But I do know that you're the loose end now... I'm sorry about that, because it's all emotional turmoil and it's so unfair. You have been carrying a lot of pain for long time, you thought Allura could help you, you had some peace from Lance as your friend..."

Tara again, her smell, her laughter in his head, how he hadn't laughed for weeks until finally Lance made him over something stupid - Keith couldn't even remember but he remembered the moment, Lance's grin and how he didn't feel guilty. Allura's kindness, her beauty, her regality and how much he hoped to love her...

"Get out of my head," Keith snapped.

"I'm done. I'm going to go home now, I'll leave you be. I'll see you in the morning, before you go."

Keith was surprised. "Morning? So soon?"

"Pidge is a very smart man, I believe you know that."

Keith nodded. "Right of course, good, I don't..."

"It's hard to see them happy, not that you've actually looked." Mira nodded and turned.

Keith watched her walk away, he didn't know what to feel. Her words had evoked Tara, had reminded him why he was angry with Lance and Allura more than why he should forgive them... Yet. He was confused. They'd lied, lied over and over, about everything. The very reason they'd gotten so close, had become such good friends, the very foundation that had led to them falling in love...

He took a breath, sat down in the grass and decided to meditate.

~~.~~

Lance slammed opened the door his and Allura's bedroom, he stalked across their room until there was no more space, he'd hit a wall, with a portrait of Liona and Al as five years olds hanging and he swallowed. His hand going up and touching Liona's little innocent chubby cheeked face...

He felt Allura's hands on his shoulders, then pulling on his jacket and he stiffened. "No," he muttered, pulling away, wanting needing his armor. "I..." he turned and looked at her and he shrugged, digging his hands into his pockets. "I want to hit things."

"Me too," Allura said, meeting his gaze, her own eyes a mixture of fierce and emotional. "There is nothing to hit," she whispered. "I'm so proud and so sad, and I don't..."

Lance nodded, he felt as wordless, as emotional, and probably more rageful...he was more prone to blind rage of the two of them. Not that he would ever turn his back on his wife when she was in mother-lion mode, not ever, he'd seen it unleashed a time or two... It was devastating to the enemy and beautiful to him. Allura was more rational, more able too...

"Are finding some way to make peace with this?" he asked, not willing to probe her mind for the information, afraid it wasn't there and he was relying on her to calm him down.

She frowned, Lance swallowed and realized his throat was dry, this wasn't a great start. Allura moved to their bed and sat down, crooked her finger at him in a silent order to follow. He walked over and sat down next to her, she dug her hand into his jacket pocket and forced him to unclench his fist, so they could hold hands.

"She's happy, she is so happy she is home. And you, you, you worked your magic with her tonight... You made it all better, somehow, I don't know how...maybe you didn't make it perfect for her but you did help her deal and understand her mixed up emotions on what she did in the past, for you, for us... I... I'm more scared what she said about the timeline changing... what is fixed, and what isn't. She has a fixed destiny to go to the past, whatever it is, she will have gone to the past. So when we send Keith back, that won't change but facts could and what else will? Our lives, our family...

Arus tugged at him hard in answer to Allura's fear, Lance held up his free hand to her in his usual _Arus-Is-Talking gesture_. Arus' lightning was still concerning, there was new pulse of something his mind understood as something working to right itself. The water of the planet was lapping against his skull giving the sense of healing, and all the elements were letting their voices be heard - unity. Black Lion whispered, _It will be all be right and good when the second bearer of lightning is gone._

"Lance?" Allura questioned, impatient as always, her hand tugging at his.

_Don't worry, about us, our family. We'll be fine, Arus is fixing something. Making sure everything is whole in the way it's supposed to be. I don't know why it isn't now...I trust what I'm feeling, Allura_. Lance told himself face it head it on. _Are you, are you sure she's okay, I mean how the fucking hell could I have fixed it... fixed her killing someone like that for me? She's only fifteen, and damn it, why wasn't it you or me, or Keith... why the fuck was her!_

_You're getting back at me for the Nanny-tone aren't you_, she touched her temples.

_Sorry, he said realizing he'd started shouting inside her head._ He kissed her temple, noticing he'd started crying when he tasted salt.

She wiped at his face with the hand not squeezing his other one, though their hands were free of his jacket pocket now. _I have no clue how you helped her, but it's you and her...You've always had that special bond with her Lance. I was jealous at first you know, until I realized it didn't matter, she loves me as fiercely. You two are just friends as well as father and daughter, it's special. She's so lucky to have you, all our children are, and she is okay, I feel it from her now...she's sound asleep, dreaming, Al's even relaxed about her a bit. He's focusing on his guard duty now, finally._.. Allura shook her head, then lowered it onto his shoulder.

He ran his hand through her hair, trying to calm down his breathing. "She's resting," he asked not at all surprised at how choked his voice sounded.

"Yes, real sleep, she needs it and she's able because she's home," Allura said, reaching up and pushing his jacket off his shoulders. Lance let her this time, letting go of her hand, untangling the other from her hair to shrug it off completely. "You never even got dressed today," she said, touching his face the second she let go of the leather.

Lance felt her fingers digging into beard, hitting his skin and he nodded. "Never had the chance, today seemed to slip away. One minute it was the middle of the night and I couldn't tell what was wrong...then Al... then suddenly there she was..."

"We should get some sleep..."

"I want to check on Pidge..."

"Let him work..." Allura said. "Mira told me it will be in the morning, he'll have it figured out by morning." She stood up and walked to her wardrobe, looked over her shoulder. _Unzip me... Anyway, I want you to hold me._

Lance grinned, grabbed his jacket to hang up in her wardrobe, it was closer and unzipped the back of the dress she was wearing. _I want you to hold me too._

_Can be arranged.._. Allura turned with a smile as her dress fell to the floor.

~~.~~

Liona walked up to Keith who was standing to the side of everyone else, while everyone waited for Pidge to show up in the hall outside the Prophecy Archive Library. They'd decided to send Keith back where he'd left, though outside the archive, not inside, though Liona was sure the trap he'd set off would be done by the time he got back. It seemed you always arrived later than you left from what she'd gathered with all these trips...

"I wanted to apologize," she said.

Keith looked up from where he was staring at the floor. Liona figured it was so he wouldn't be tempted to look at her parents. Who were as usual joined at the hip, as they spoke to Mira in low tones. "For?"

Liona let out a breathe. "I was terrified when I was in your time and when I'm scared I take it out on people I care about. And well, you weren't my parents who I was afraid of tipping off and even being near...it was so weird. And you were so suspicious and hard anyway, it was easy to go into pissed at Uncle Keith mode and hit all your buttons. Which well, unfair advantage...you didn't know I knew them. I've never actually riled you up before... I have to admit, I kind of got a kick out of it too. It was a nice distraction and a good way to well deflect the fear, after the Ball and all. And well, I'm sorry."

Keith nodded. "You do see me as family don't you?"

"Of course," Liona said.

Keith sighed.

"I heard them talking a few times. Your Allura and Lance, about not being to talk to you. Allura hated the lying and Lance would get all quiet and do this jaw clench thing my dad does when he's really royally pissed... Well, they are the same person, it's just...Sorry. Anyway, they hated it."

"Right. I hate it too," Keith muttered. "Everyone is defending them Liona, I know."

"Oh. Well, hit Lance again. Might work better with that one."

Keith laughed.

"Make you smile," she said. "Finally, Pidge..." she said and walked over to her parents.

"Ahem," Pidge cleared his throat. "Keith?"

Liona watched from between her parents as Keith walked over to Pidge. Pidge grabbed his wrist and snapped on the device. "Okay, everything is all calibrated and set. I'm positive this will bring you back in the general time you and Liona vanished from your time..." Pidge looked over at Lance and Mira.

Liona felt her father nod, and assumed Mira did as well. Keith looked a bit pale as he looked at the device. "So I hit the button and..."

"And you are back in your present and all this time travel stuff is a thing of the past...or, er, future," Pidge said with a small laugh.

"Good luck," her mother said

"Don't hit me too hard, man," her father laughed.

Keith looked at him and for a second Liona thought he might smile before his jaw clenched.

"Don't forget our talk, Keith," Mira said, just before Keith hit the button.

And he was gone in a flash of white light.


	76. Chapter 76

Chapter Seventy-six

It amazed Lance at times how quickly chaos could end and turn to silence. Awkward, horrible, dreadful silence that no one knew how to break. His usual way of breaking it was to crack an inappropriate joke, to point out something stupid Keith, Pidge or Hunk had done that had turned out brave and awesome and make a crack about it. Or to praise himself, if he'd been the one to do the stupid brave awesome thing - that happened a lot - but it hadn't been him this time. It hadn't been Hunk, Pidge, or Keith. It hadn't been Allura.

It'd been Liona, he thought but he wasn't quite sure what his daughter had done. He wasn't even sure where she had come from, how she had been there, how had she known? He ran his hand over the back of his neck, his hair was still standing on end, his whole being felt like it vibrating with tense energy about how they never should have walked in there and touched anything.

How had Keith been so reckless?

How had that sentence just formed in his head?

His head was full of things he didn't understand. His own thoughts were the least of it - Arus was in his head, Her, Lance was sure It was a Her from the way it moved and thought inside of him. She was crackling with a force of energy that hadn't been there before, it was chaotic, strange, he couldn't understand what he was being told, what he was meant to sort out...

_My Hero is the Lightning Rod that stabilizes the sound and shock of lightning's storm..._ Black whispered in his head, and then he saw a vision of the the fields near the Castle being struck by lightning, randomly but in sucession in a matter of seconds. His jaw clenched, he turned and started to walk to the control room, pulling his communicator off his belt "Sven?"

_Lance!_ Allura cried out to him. Making him fly around and break off his stride at the sight of her tearfilled face, with white faced Pidge and Hunk behind her.

"I..." He'd never felt so torn in his life as at that moment, in this sudden moment at time. He was dizzy suddenly, his own worries about his daughter, Keith the fear startling suddenly as the numbness melted away at feeling Allura's panic in his head. Only, Arus was screaming at him too, being scarred by lightning, lost and confused by Keith's absence, a man who was as connected to Arus as he... They are were, The Voltron Force.

"Yes, Lance? Lance? Has something happened down there? Coran is fine, he's arguing with Nanny about not staying here."

Lance took a breath, he was going to have Sven meet him in Control, he'd just have Sven deal. "Sven I need too... I need you too..." he didn't know what he needed Sven to do. "I need you to keep an eye on the lightning storms, they'll be happening all over the planet's surface. Make sure the people in the villages are protected and have aid."

"Uh...lightning stor... Oh my that was a lightning strike all right, right against the Castle near Coran's room. I'll go see to that. What's happened?"

"A lot, explain later," he said, staring at Allura. His mind reeling, his heart pounding and his thoughts falling to Liona. He ended any space between him and Allura, grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not leaving_, he promised. To Red Lion he asked, _If Keith affects the lightning why weren't the volcanoes out of sorts when Liona was here?_

_You...you kept them at bay, your the bearer of the flame, she is the succeeder, the activity was higher._

_She's gone, Liona... she's gone._ Allura cried into Lance's chest, her fists started to pound at him, a furious beat. She let out a wrenching sob, sucked back in air, pulling away from him a bit to do so, looking at him through a waterfall of tears. "Liona," she cried.

He felt a sob of his own lodge in his throat and threaten to burst out, he pulled Allura closer, ran his hands through her hair, knocking out her tiara but neither of them cared. He shhed her out and whispered into her mind. _I... where did she come from, why?_ He heard himself ask.

Allura cried, held onto him tighter, snaking her arms under his jacket, her nails digging into his skin. The pain was welcome, the jumble of things in his head had turned into a fog. The shock of watching Liona vanish, the new found weirdness and wonder of being able to feel and respond to what Arus felt, and Allura's pain flying through him. _Nails, harder, I'm forgetting something, need to remember._

"What are you forgetting," she asked out loud, burying her head into his shoulder.

"Keith maybe," Hunk said, sounding uncharacteristically angry.

Allura swung around then, Lance felt her anger flare up and he grabbed at her waist to try to calm her down but didn't dare try to shut her down. "I am not forgetting Keith, neither is Lance, Hunk but you don't understand... You don't understand at all about Liona!"

"No, we don't," Pidge said. "But we do know is that she barreled in there to save Keith, apparently and ended up sending them both 375 years into a future an evil sorceress came from. So, we're worried about Chief."

The future, Lance let out a sigh of relief, that was what he was forgetting, where they'd vanished too. How they hadn't vanished out of the present but rather gone to the future. The same future he and Allura had gone to, where they'd hidden from the truths they'd learned there for so long. It'd been impossible to hide from it though.

"He'll be back soon," Lance said. "But Liona won't," his voice cracked on his daughters name. "She'll, she'll go to her own time..." he sought out Mira as he said it and she nodded a small warm smile on her face.

"She will be sent back to her time yes. As for Keith, I'm assuming you're right as I am here, I can't see when..."

"Soon enough. We just have to wait, ten, fifteen minutes," He pulled Allura back into his arms. She was crying again, one hand against her stomach, another against her heart. He felt a sense of emptiness, overwhelming emptiness waving off of her, he felt a hole too but it was worse for Allura, he could feel it.

"Baby, it's okay... we'll see her again. She'll be a lot tinier, but we'll see her again," he said, taking Allura's head in his hands.

Allura hiccuped. "Will we? Will she be the same? I sense it, the timelines they won't be what they were, where she went with Keith, where we went when we went to the future... They won't exist will they? Where she came from won't exist because it will be us there...it won't happen the way it did. It's all confusing and makes no sense...

Arus seemed to nod in his head, half agreeing with her, telling him Allura's intuition was right and wrong. But he felt that Liona was Liona, he was felt it and he was sure of it and he pinned Mira with his eyes. "Mira, our daughter?"

"Liona and her twin brother are fixed points in Arus history. They are Heroes of Arus, They are Pilots of Lions, they are a King and a Queen; I won't say more. Allura, Liona will be Liona, with some different memories yes, but the same core persona you've met. Your daughter will be your daughter."

_Thank her for me,_ Allura whispered in his head, sobbing against his shoulder again. _I can't, I can't... We barely spoke her, Lance, we aren't...we haven't...how can I feel like she's been ripped away from me when I haven't yet carried her?_

"Thank you, Mira, from both of us," he said, relieved. _Baby, it's because you're you. You feel deeply, more deeply than anyone I know except..._

_Keith?_ Allura finished for him and she looked up into his eyes. "He's so mad at us," she whispered.

"Uh, I'm confused, Pidge are you confused?" Hunk asked, over Allura's whisper.

"In my attempt to process information, I've got, Liona is their daughter." He pointed to Lance and Allura. "That they think Keith is perfectly safe in the future, timelines are changing, and that they've been to the future themselves. Add in the whole Lance is King, and can crumble walls by pointing..." Pidge shook his head. "Yes, I am confused because none of that makes sense, even though I at least saw the wall bit with my own eyes and scanner."

"Princess?" Coran asked, walking out of a shadow near by, his skin still pale but gaining color back. "Is what I just heard Pidge say hold any truth to it at all?"

Lance met Allura's eyes, Allura met his and he gave her a wide grin. "Baby, I think this is where everything finally really does completely bite us in the ass."

Allura somehow though Lance could still feel her missing Liona with every heartbeat, giggled a bit at that as she turned toward Coran in worry. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I have had enough of dreaming," Coran said.

Allura winced, Lance met the older man's eyes and felt a bit pinned by them. Coran stepped forward and held out his hand. "I am told, by Nanny that you are my True King and you saved me from a King's Spell."

"Yes, I did, I am," Lance said without any hedging because he no longer had the luxury. He then reached out and took Coran's hand, the handshake was firm and unexpectedly gently from Coran, thankful.

"Thank you."

"It was an honor," Lance said, because what else could he say. It wasn't exactly like leaving Coran in the spell was an option.

"What was this Pidge said about a daughter, Keith being in the future and you two having gone there?" Coran asked.

Lance glanced at Allura, his mind reeling, Arus loud, he felt as if he was slightly dizzy, and it felt like he had threat of a headache at his temples. He knew they had to come clean, but there was something else he felt they should do. "I think we should wait," he said.

"For?" Coran said.

"Keith," Allura finished.

"Where is Commander Kogane?"

"He is in the future," Pidge explained. "There was a trap, Keith accidentally set it off and Princess Liona - she is from a future of only 22 years but she wore a device that was set to 375 years ahead..."

"Excuse me, I'm still a bit brain addled Pidge but there was a young woman from one future going to another future and she took Keith with her?"

"He made a jackass reckless move and set off a trap, she saved him by sending them to the future," Lance spat out, rolling his eyes.

Everyone turned and looked at him. "What? It takes a reckless jackass to no a reckless jackass move when he sees it...how Liona knew..." he threw up his hands.

Coran frowned. "The trap is why I pushed past Nanny and came down here. Alfor was aware there may be a room of some sort down here, but he worried about traps. He always planned for any attempts to find the room to be very cautious. I was worried for the Princess."

"You pushed past Nanny?" Allura said.

"No, he did not," Nanny said stepping out from behind him. "Coran, we can talk more about Princess Liona and King Lance's betrothal to Princess Allura later, you should be in the medical wing..."

"Betrothal!" Allura yelled.

"King Lance," Lance sighed.

"Why is Nanny not freaking out about Liona being their daughter?" Hunk asked Pidge?

"Because I am not blind, she had Allura's face and Lance's eyes and he was my true King. It was meant to be, the Gods of Arus have spoken..."

Lance felt Arus vibrate around the walls around him, a sense of opposition to what Nanny said rolled through him. He grinned. "Arus spoke you mean," he said.

Nanny gave him a look. "Call it as you wish, Coran, bed."

"No, there are things to speak about. Lance as the King needs to be address, what has been found, this talk about time lines and time travel... Lance and Allura you have been to the future? You expect Keith back?"

"Soon," Allura said. "It's why we should wait..."

"Then Coran can go back to bed," Nanny grabbed his arm and Coran turn to argue with her but didn't get to form his words because a strange whine filled the air and then a white light formed in the center of the seven of them. They all stepped away, Lance, Allura, Nanny and Coran on one side, Hunk, Pidge and Mira on the other.

The white flashed and then it was gone, Lance blinked his eyes on Keith's face, then locked with Keith's gaze. In that instant Lance simultaneously felt Arus set itself into a locked line, it'd fixed something that had gone wrong, somewhere somehow, it was done and over. Things were right again, Mira softly said, "Wow," from across the hall, and he met her eyes briefly over Keith's shoulder. She felt it too, Allura gripped his hand. _Lance, it's done isn't it. All the time travel. It's done._

_It's done,_ he said to her and he felt Arus' atmosphere settle back it's norm in the way of lightning, Lance felt at a loss of how to explain it all to himself. He knew nothing of lightning storms, of geology, of elements but his mind was attached to a planet it and he understood it all anyway. His people were safer from lightning again, that he understood. He felt relief.

Keith's expression wasn't great for letting that relief remain, however. Keith was glaring at him, expression dark and his face nearly expressionless. Lance felt Allura's worry wash over him and mingle with his own. Her thoughts matched his own.

_He knows we were there._

_He feels more betrayed than before._

"Your _daughter_ is home save with _you_, her parents." Keith spat out, then he turned and walked away. "Pidge, Hunk with me. Where is Sven?"

"The control room, I believe," Pidge said, hurrying to keep up with Keith, both he and Hunk throwing looks back at Lance and Allura. Lance wasn't sure how to read their unsure and confused expressions. They had to be unhappy with the secrets too. He knew he would be, he wouldn't deny it.

"Always, always there has to be some drama, but now is not the time Coran. To bed! Princess!" Nanny yelled, pulling at Coran's hand.

"That was quite the entrance," Coran muttered, shaking his head. "I am very befuddle, very befuddle..."

"You need sleep."

"Nanny, I need answers."

Allura looked at Lance, her eyes going between him and Coran. Lance felt her torn feelings, he felt the same way. Stay with her and walk alone in their torn up garden they were trying to rebuild, get their bearings together? Or? _Go with Coran, answer his questions,_ Lance sighed.

She flew to him and kissed him gently but too quickly, before turning and taking Coran's hand. "Nanny's right, but I'll go with you. I'll tell you everything... Lance and I have been keeping a lot of secrets, Coran."

"I see," Coran said, frowning about the kiss.

Lance watched her go until he couldn't see her any longer in the dark hall of the caverns under the castle. Then he leaned against the wall, Arus seemed to wrap around him; he had to say it felt good to have the extra weight keeping him upright. Even if it felt strange and unwieldy in his head, how would he get used to this? He looked at Mira.

She walked over to him, warm brown eyes and a warm smile. "It will become no more invasive than your own inner thoughts over time. Unless you wish it to be more, to go deeper, to seek out more clues. You will see. It's a gift, rare and beautiful and it will aid Arus to greatness."

"I know. About the greatness," he said, with a cocky grin.

"You're worried about the unity."

"Tarus said I had to reach out to Keith, remind him who I am... I didn't do that before he left. Was I too late? Did I screw it up?" He asked her, his heart pounding.

"It's murky, I won't lie but I don't believe the unity that is the link of the three of you as the leading core of the Voltron Force is in danger of breathing it's last breath yet..."

"Could be, though?"

"If you don't remind who you are... Show him how that leads directly into who you are."

"Huh?" Lance asked.

"Arus doesn't choose its True Kings lightly...Lance McClain," Mira said before turning around and leaving.

"So Enigma Skills, that is a Seer class, right?"

"Yep," Mira laughed, still walking.

Lance rolled his eyes but let her go on without him, deciding to be alone with his planet for a little while.


	77. Chapter 77

Chapter Seventy-seven

Allura's heartbeat was in her ears, _Liona, Liona, Liona._

"You belong in a hospital, where you can be monitored, and get rest, and your strength up," Nanny repeated.

Allura felt Coran put just a bit more weight onto her as he argued back. "I am quite fine, whatever... Commander McClain did..."

"King Lance," Nanny argued. "He is our True King, we must start treating him as such. I will have a bigger room set up for him, more maids, and a new wardrobe..."

Allura opened her mouth to argue.

"I do not think that will be necessary, Nanny. Lance won't like it...and I don't need to rest in the hospital wing."

"Like it? Liking has nothing to do with proper decorum, nor with the right way to handle what you have been through, Coran. Hospital wing, you can barely walk without leaning on Allura and myself."

"I am walking perfectly fine," he argued. Though Allura felt him leaning on her, probably completely now.

"Tsk, don't think I don't know, our Princess is keeping you upright..." Nanny shook her head.

"I do not need to be in that place," Coran muttered.

Her daughter was gone, she could feel Lance feeling the loss, worrying about Keith and there was so much more; he'd accepted who was the King but there was so much too it, weighing on him that he neded to tell her. She didn't know, she didn't even know what had happened to him before he saved Coran.

For her. For Voltron. For Arus.

"Lance won't want a new wardrobe," she said suddenly, surprised by how her voice broke.

Liona, it was all about Liona. Her Warrior Princess, she probably hated dresses and pomp as much as Lance. She was beautiful and brave but all Allura could see then was the little girl expression she'd worn when fighting not to cry when she'd asked her and Lance to leave - because they reminded her of who they weren't.

But she was, Allura thought... _I am, I am her mother._

"Princess! Look, Coran, look how worried she is for you, what've you done to her!" Nanny shouted.

Allura shook her head, she fought for breath, she had to stop, she couldn't do this now. Coran's hand was on her back, he was looking at her intently. She could feel his brown eyes on her, in the fatherly gaze he had and then Nanny shrieked.

"Where is your CROWN!"

Allura sniffled, she gave a shrug and half-turned around. "The floor," she managed to say as Coran ran a hand up and down her back.

"Well, that is unacceptable. What am I to do with everyone in this castle acting like ruffians."

"Nanny, not now..." Coran said.

"She and you will both feel better once you have both been looked at by Gorma. Princess, you have been up for far too long, going nonstop since the disaster of that witch."

"Princess what is it?"

"She's gone," Allura whispered.

Nanny's hand was suddenly holding hers and she squeezed. "And she'll be back..." Allura looked up and met Nanny's gaze, seeing nothing but love and hope there.

"Really?"

"Of course she will, Princess. I may be an old maid, but I keep my ear to ground. You know this young lady. She's yours, I know this because she was as stubborn as you are the entire time she was here. She'll be born to you and King Lance. I count on it, because I will be making sure this time around she does not have her father's dirty cursing mouth!"

Allura laughed, she couldn't help it. She smiled too, Nanny squeezed her hand again. "So you will see her. Of course it will be after the Wedding. Which won't be until after your 21st birthday... Now to get Coran in his hospital bed..."

"Nanny!" Coran called out again, but his hand was still on Allura's back, and Allura looked between them, watching them argue and felt completely safe and completely loved. Like she always had in a ruined castle, when her planet had thought it had lost all hope for survival, but Coran had told her to never give up on it, so she never had...

"Coran, will you at least go to your own room?" Allura asked.

That stopped both Coran and Nanny mid-sentence and then turned toward her, Allura looked at them both, purposely widened her eyes and smiled as much as she could at the moment.

"I will inform Dr. Gorma of where you are," Nanny said to Coran. Before she left, however, she turned to Allura and hugged her tightly. "You must live this, your own life, and forget the chaos that was brought down around us all," she said.

Allura wasn't quite sure what to say, Nanny had a way to making things so simple and Allura wasn't ever sure anything was black and white as that. She nodded to her though and then she turned to Coran. "No arguments, about getting into bed?"

Coran sighed. "No, I am feeling a bit..."

"Wobbly?" Allura said, once again wrapping an arm around his waist to take on his weight. "You were in that spell for far too long."

"And missed quite a lot. Time travel, your daughter from the future, the fact you've been to the future..."

"That is news to everyone."

"I would like the whole story, Allura."

Allura nodded.

"You and Lance? You also are fully together I assume as I was fearing..."

"Lance and I meant to hurt no one and he's a good and honorable man, Coran."

Coran shook his head. "I never meant to imply I didn't believe he wasn't a man of honor, Allura."

"But you'd prefer, I want Keith," she said.

"I'm worried about the fact you were being courted by Keith, that you came to me and requested to date Keith, that you had a girlhood crush, fantasies and a crush for Keith for so long Allura and now it feels quite quickly swept away..."

Quickly? Allura shook her head. "No, Coran, it wasn't quick at all."

"I would like to hear the whole story, Allura, tell me it as you catch me up with everything I have missed?"

Allura nodded, as she helped Coran into his bed, pulled the sheets up around him. She grabbed a chair from near the window in his bedchambers and pulled it up to the bed, sat on it, pulling her feet underneath her. "It started in August, Lance and I woke up to strange voices in our heads... We followed them into a white light. We walked into the future, 375 years into the future. Only...we weren't the Lance and Allura they were calling out to; they'd meant to grab the Lance and Allura that were already married, already in love. Lance and I, we both in shock I think at even the mere idea of us," she sighed. "I screamed and cried the whole time I was there, in the future, that I loved Keith. Only Keith...but Lance was my lifeline. He became my best friend. We were there three months, maybe a little longer."

"Three months!" Coran sat up straighter. "But..."

"It was time travel Coran, when Lia and her mother. The Queen and one of her daughters of the time, figured out how to send us back, we reappeared where we disappeared, in the control room, about seven minutes later. We were gone seven minutes. That is all."

"And why did you and Commander McClain not report it?"

"Coran," Allura shook her head. "If Lance and I had called an alert and tried to tell you all we had gone to the future where a comet was about to destroy Arus, and King Coran's children had called us forth because we are known historically as the strongest King and Queen as Arus to help them restore Voltron to save Arus... what would you and the others have thought of us? The story was ludicrous."

"A comet? Restore Voltron?"

"They lost use of him, they couldn't find the right pilots for the right lions... It was very simple to fix once Lance just stumbled on it...his instinct was awoken because Anna set a robeast against the Castle. No one knew about the comet but those in the Castle. Arus had been at peace for years, but Princess Allura, Laurie, she had prophecies of that time saying that the peace would be ending soon. They needed Voltron for more than saving Arus from the comet..." Allura frowned. "Now I don't even know if they exist at all."

Coran reached and grabbed her hand. "Allura, I heard something about the time lines having to be changed, reset..."

"That future had no seers, they'd only recently stumbled upon the prophecies, but I remembered you telling me father had some while I was there. It's why when I came back I asked to see - Laurie gave me the one about Lance being the True King when I returned. She seemed to think I should have it. And I read so many more while I was there... I still - there is so much about Seeing and the prophecies I wish to study and understand. But there weren't there, but they are here. Lance and I found them, in the Underground."

Coran made a noise.

"You disapprove."

"You and he will do as your father wanted, have started what your father wanted... And it's dangerous. People distrust the Seers."

"I know, and I do not care, they are wrong to distrust. I do wonder if their are sorcerers, mystics out there also..."

"There likely are, but they'll be any less likely to come forward, Allura."

Allura nodded. "Maybe once Arus knows about Lance."

"We must handle that carefully, Princess."

"Why, the myth of the True King is known isn't it? Rumors about you must have left the Castle?"

"It ties him into being like a Seer."

"Then all of the Voltron Force is like a Seer for we speak with Lions," Allura said.

Coran opened and then shut his mouth, Allura watched him thinking, she could see it in his expression, his mind working behind his brown eyes. It caught her throat how beautiful it was to once again see his skin with color, his expression without pain but with it's keen intelligence. She bit her tongue to not cry in happiness.

"Nevertheless, Allura we must tread carefully."

Allura nodded, she had no idea what would happen, what choices she and Lance would make but she wasn't about to argue with Coran about it now. There was time to talk about how to go forward, all they had left was the future...an unknown future except for a few fixed points. Like her daughter.

"So, you and Lance chose to keep the truth from us because you didn't trust us to believe you?"

Allura sighed. "Coran, you wouldn't have."

"You cannot know that Allura."

"Okay, but Lance and I made our choice, we can't take it back. It was made and when we returned I was more determined than ever to be with Keith..." Allura shook her head. "The future was wrong, I was going to prove it," she tugged at the end of her hair. "I hope all my railing didn't hurt Lance. He said it didn't...but."

"So you asked me to permit Keith to court you. And Lance, he started to court Ms. Wyeth quite seriously it seemed."

"I think he realized he liked the idea of family. He, uh, got really close to two of the Prince and Princesses, and well there were so many pictures, paintings of our family... Of Liona, Al, and two other daughers who may or may not have now..." Allura pressed her hand to her stomach. "I'm scared enough Liona may not be the same."

"You're daughter who came here, to our time?"

"With some device the witch Anna, from the future Lance and I went too. A terrorist really, against the McClain bloodline. She felt he had tainted the bloodline, like the people who attacked about Keith that one time. I guess it is something we'll have to deal with."

"Hmm."

"She killed her, before she kill Lance. If she hadn't... Lance would be," Allura had to pause, to calm herself, break off to breathe. "I would have lost both of you forever. Mira said it was fixed, Liona coming to the past, the threat she faces is what wasn't. She's a fixed being, Mira said. Her and her brother... I guess maybe variables around her change, but not her birth itself. Mira and Tarus say it's an unknown hand, Gods, we can't understand it all. I keep wishing I could, my head is dizzy..."

"Mine too," Coran laughed. "Lance saved me from a Kings spell? How did he learn how? Kings Spells are but a myth, well all but your father thought... You're father was a True King himself though. He knew things others did not, but we never told Arus. Seers were among them even then but the discord was about them was already rising."

Allura frowned. "Father agreed to this?"

"No. But for the time being he was agreeing with my counsel. I think he hoped to be around when the Voltron Force arrived, it would be then he'd speak out."

Allura nodded. "That makes sense. Father told Lance had to fly Black. It was... not good timing. Keith found out about us, he was so angry, and Lance had to ask for Black. I don't know what happened while he was gone with Black because when he came back is when Keith and Liona vanished and as you know... they just came back. But..." Allura smiled. "He accepted he's the King. He's been denying and denying it, grumbling about it, not understanding how he could be anything more than a pilot and just a man. He's more insecure than he comes across, I've learned, he's confident too. He said that's what he remembered. He's a cocky bastard, that's all i know about what happened...I'm sure I'll learn more."

"Nanny has accepted who he is."

"She saw a lot while you were in that damn spell."

"And the Seers accept him, and she accepts the Seers," Coran said. "She always did, because of your father, even though she thought he was bit too trusting."

Allura nodded.

"Allura, you and Commander McClain? You were with Captain Kogane. I have to say that while I am trying to understand, I find myself disappointed in your actions."

The expression on Coran's face showed the disappointment, there was no hiding from it, his brown eyes did show warmth, love, but he wasn't hiding that he was upset, maybe a bit angry but mostly he felt let down by her actions. He expected more from her. He'd expected her to be forthright and honest. She and Lance hadn't been.

"We lied about going to the future, and you don't think we should have and maybe you are right. Maybe we should have had faith in all of you - and that lie. That lie led to the second worst lie."

"Only two, weren't there a lot of little lies in between, Princess?" Coran asked.

Allura blinked and wiped at the tears that fell. "Of course, there were half lies, lies of omission. We were truthful about how our friendship evolved, talking in my Garden, we only didn't say it'd been in the future for the three months. We just acted like no one had noticed we'd been doing it here in the now... We knew about some battles before they happened, I knew about the moon where he fell and I ran after him before hand - and I didn't get it then but that is when I chose him over Keith. I made the choices that were me choosing him over Keith. I could've handled it so much more smartly, and Lance would've been saved sooner."

"Hmmm."

"I didn't know I was falling for him until he kissed me, while hallucinating, in that cave... And I knew he would, but I told myself that part of the prophecy wouldn't come true. I think I was lying to myself."

"And you didn't tell Keith anything?"

"I...was too busy lying to myself. I needed...I needed to talk to Lance first, I thought but then Lance didn't remember anything. He was so feverish. It turns out he thought it was all a dream, he didn't know it was real. Then I thought... I thought if it felt that way with him, it should with Keith, so I tried to make it feel that way..."

"What way, Allura?"

Allura blushed as she looked at Coran and looked down at her feet, and fidgeted in the chair. Warmth spreading through as she thought about being in Lance's arms. "Right," she whispered, figuring that was all Coran would want to know about it. "It felt right. And I'd spent so much time telling myself Keith was the one, he was my Prince, he was the Hero that saved me and he and I were meant to me. I had thrown things and screamed and cried in the future where their paintings me looking happier than I ever recalled feeling until recently with Lance...that Keith was the one! But then Lance kissed me once while in a fever and it came falling apart. I didn't know what to do."

"Princess, you can always come to me, or Nanny," Coran said leaning forward and taking her hand. "We will listen, advise you as best we can."

Allura rolled her eyes. "And try to keep me a child," Allura said. "If I had come to you two with my confused feelings for Lance, you wouldn't have allowed me to see him anymore alone. I would never have been able to speak to him the way I was used to talking to him. I couldn't risk it. I wouldn't..." she laughed. "I guess that says a lot. When I tried to make it feel the way it had with Lance with Keith and it went wrong, terribly wrong, I ran to Lance. We had it out and we got together, Coran and we were going to tell Keith. We were. But the bomb happened that morning, and..." she trailed off. "We both knew, felt it might be connected to our trip to the future...but we weren't positive. We wanted to be sure before we told everyone, and Lance. Lance wanted Keith focused on protecting me, and the Castle. Doing his job. So we stayed quiet and I didn't break up with Keith. And it was wrong and we both, we both hated ourselves, we do."

"Lance felt it best to keep Keith focused?"

"Keith was already suspicious, Coran, Lance didn't think it'd be good idea to upset him completely when there was possibly so much danger. We'd seen what Anna could do in the future. She still... She still really surprised us anyway," Allura wiped at her eyes. "I almost lost you both, and because of my actions I know I might never really have my friendship with Keith back. But...Tarus and Mira both, they've said Keith, Lance and I have to be an united front... it's vital to Voltron."

"That may be an uphill battle, Princess."

Allura nodded. "I can't change what we decided to do, but I do apologize for hurting you with my lies."

Coran nodded and squeezed the hand he was still holding. "Princess, I do know you meant well and you would never intentionally harm another human being. You are too kind of a soul for that, I will get over this over this disappointment. I owe Lance my freedom from that spell. I need to rest now."

Allura nodded. "Of course," she stood up and walked to the light in the room and turned it off. Then over to the window and closed the curtains. "Do you need anything else?" she asked but she saw that Coran was already quietly snoring on his back.


	78. Chapter 78

Chapter Seventy-eight

_August 16, 2000, 2:15 a.m Arusian Standard._

Keith found the file with that date time easily enough on the computer, he'd asked the Mira in the future for it, and had been surprised she gave it to him without argument, or a lecture about forgiveness. Behind him he felt Pidge, Hunk and Sven watching him with wide eyes.

He pulled up the feed of the control room, it was empty, he fastforwarded six minutes and let the last minute play out - seven minutes he'd been told the time - but three months. Three months Lance and Allura had spent alone in the future, getting tattoos, finding out about prophecies, that Lance was meant to the King and that they would fall in love. Three months and pack of lies.

White light filled the screen, it grew so bright all four of them winced. Then it was gone and Lance and Allura stood in the empty control room in clothes that none of them recognized. Allura was holding a prophecy, Lance was holding Allura.

"They were in the future too, for three months. They came back that night., same night they left. In August."

"That's almost a year ago now?" Pidge said. "They really went to the future? But how?"

"Ask them, maybe they won't lie," Keith said, standing up. "Saw a lot of things that filled in a lot of the missing pieces. Did you know the future has needle-less tattooing. Lance and Allura's tattoos, match those of paintings done of their lions by the same painter who did all the family portraits of them and their children."

"Children?" Hunk repeated. "More than just the Princess Liona, then?"

Keith rolled his eyes standing up. "Four, three girls, one boy. Castle was like a shrine to them, the current residents were fans,' Keith started to pace the control room.

"They went to the future in August?" Pidge said, looking at the footage again. "They didn't tell us? Why wouldn't they tell us?"

"My question, exactly, Pidge. They were taken from their beds and pulled to the future. They learned things, that were helpful to all of us in that time and used it to help us, Arus - but all without telling us the truth of how they found out. They used the prophecies to gives us half truths and lies of omission. They should have reported it. Lance should have reported it to me and Allura to Coran."

"Keith," Sven said.

Keith looked up, he met Sven's gaze saw a guilty expression on Sven's face and felt his defensives go. "Don't tell me they told you about it too, the trip to the future."

"No. No, Romelle and I knew nothing of it. Nothing at all. It explains a lot of things, yes. But Keith... Would you have believed them?"

"Yes."

Sven blinked but he remained quiet and then he shrugged. "Yes, maybe you would've, but can you be certain that isn't your hindsight, that isn't the niggling you've had in the back of your head about their friendship, their secrets talking. Hindsight makes all men wiser."

"I would have laughed the second Lance said it," Hunk said. "I mean the future, in the middle of the night.. I wouldn't have believed it."

"They had clothes, look," Pidge said. "I bet examination would have proved they were fabrics not yet used, made in another time. They had the tattoos, and what I have seen of Lance's it always seemed - too good."

"I just figured really great tattoo artist," Hunk said.

Keith was nodding at what Pidge had said. "They could have proven it, also look at this footage Sven."

Sven sighed. "Okay, so they lied, and their reasons are weak... It doesn't change that their reasons and that it was not done maliciously."

Keith sighed. "Their intentions don't matter they've been lying to us for almost a full year. Lying, and..." he trailed off.

"Uh, Chief, I feel their intentions do matter," Hunk said. He looked around the room at everyone else. "Just me?"

"No, not just you," Sven said, but he kept his gaze on Keith. Keith felt the weight of Sven's gaze, the strength of the thoughts behind, the advice that was unspoken, and he didn't know what to do with it. He didn't want to give Lance a break, and he didn't want to give Allura the benefit of the doubt. They'd screwed up.

"What is their side?" Hunk asked.

Keith glared at him, Hunk shrugged under the glare. "Ask them? Okay, I'll ask 'em, then. Uh, I'm going to go find something to do now..." he gave Pidge a look before heading toward the door.

"Yeah, I, um, I'm going to follow him," Pidge said. "I don't... I need to process all of this I think," he said.

Keith watched them go and tried to ignore the fact that Sven hadn't taken his eyes off him since they'd unlocked gazes. He walked out of the control room and into his office, he sat down and on his desk, in the middle of it was the handle to the broken coffee cup. Mocking him. Keith picked it up and thought about throwing it against the wall. Shatter everything completely.

"Keith?"

"Don't."

"You need to..."

"You kept their lies for them."

"I kept a secret that was theirs to tell," Sven said. "It was about your friendship with Lance, and your relationship with Allura. I found out by an accident. It wasn't my place to tell you...even though I wanted too, almost as much as I didn't want too. I wished I hadn't been in Romelle's room at all that night."

"I don't think I want to know what Romelle's has to do with it," Keith muttered.

"Keith, you can't avoid them."

"I know that, I do..." Keith sat down, moved the broken coffee mug handle from hand to hand. "In the future, Lady Mira told Tara clings to me still and that was why I couldn't, wouldn't fall in love with Allura..."

Keith heard Sven's body crunch the leather of the chair in front of his desk. "After Tara died a part of you did too, it hasn't returned."

"The Seer's funeral, Allura's dress for it..."

"Aye, wedding dresses both her and Romelle," Sven said.

Keith nodded. "I saw Tara, in hers, the one she would have worn for a moment when I first saw Allura. Not that first time I've seen Tara while looking at her, but that moment it was... Then I dreamed of Tara and it was so real, Tara said she was real. But I can't..." Keith sighed. "I can't understand why it is so important now, why it's all wrapped up in my relationship with Allura... Even Allura brought her up, or I did, but we never talked about her. We never got around to it...would it have changed anything, Sven?"

"I can't answer that, Keith, I don't know."

"I can't forgive them, I don't see how I can even talk to them..." Keith sighed and put the coffee mug handle back on his desk.

"Keith, you will forgive them," Sven said.

Keith looked up him but he didn't believe Sven's words. They felt far from true, he shook his head minutely. "They all said you must, Keith, you must, but I don't even see how. The lies, everything...I feel like I don't know either one of them anymore."

"Must forgive them?"

Keith rolled his eyes. "The future. A future Princess Allura, with the nickname Laurie and brown eyes said: "You have to forgive them for the unity of Voltron. Then in Liona's future, Lady Mira said the same thing..."

"Keith..." Sven leaned forward.

"Sven, just don't, okay... Could you leave?"

Sven nodded and stood up. At the door he turned back and looked at Keith. "Lance has always been your closest friend, Keith."

Keith ignored Sven's statement, Sven left not waiting for any sort of reply anyway, the door closed and Keith looked up at it. Closed, leaving him alone in his office.

_Well, he was home_.

~~.~~

Lance stopped short when he saw Lara taping a note to surface of the door to his room. A flash of memory hitting him hard at the sight of her face and fiery red hair as her trying to help an injured woman and then getting tossed into a wall herself, energy from that damn spell of Anna's coursing over her.

"Lara," he called out, to let her know he was there as he walked up.

She turned, grinned, and tore the note down, crunching it into her fist. "Should I say Your Grace, or, King Lance?" she asked, arching an eye brow.

"Don't you dare," Lance said shaking his head. "Are you okay?" he asked, remembering how pale she gotten within seconds the blue energy and how hadn't dare to touch her.

"I'm fine. Dr. Gorma said I was lucky, being young and healthy. The woman I was trying to help, she bled out though..."

Lance cringed. "We're going to have a lot of clean up from that Ball," he thought.

"Was that a King thought or a soldier thought?"

Lance shrugged. "I don't know, not sure there is much difference, not for Arus," he muttered.

"So, uh, I..." Lara stuttered.

Lance stared at her, she was blushing and there was something awkward about how she was standing there, in front of his door. "Uh, Lara, are you sure you are okay?" He put his hand on her forehead.

"What are you doing!" She hit him in the chest, then she gasped putting her hand to her mouth. "Sorry, sorry."

It hit him then what was going on and he could kill her. "Lara, if you of all people are going to go all fucking weird on me just because I'm the fucking guy talking to the planet!"

Lara's eyes widened, then rolled them and suddenly she was laughing. "Huh. Still are you, aren't you..."

Lance rolled his eyes at her, pointedly. He opened his door. "Lara, did you want something specific?"

"I just... I... I thought we should say goodbye."

Lance dropped his communicator on the bureau, he turned to look at her, she met his gaze, bold as always no more weirdness. He knew what she meant then. "Yeah, I guess so," he shook his head. "I'm sorry, about the Ball. I never should have asked you to be my cover date. I shouldn't have gotten involved in any of this at all."

"Besides all the King stuff, are any of the rumors rushing around true?"

"Like what?"

"You and Allura already got married, she's pregnant. That red headed maid that turned out to be a Princess was your daughter, Keith went the future, you went to the future with Allura. That Keith tried to kill you in the control room. That Nanny is plotting your murder for knocking up Allura."

"Heh," Lance laughed. "Oddly, most of those are true."

Lara raised a brow.

"Allura and I went to the future. Started this whole damn mess, Lara. Keith came pretty damn close to killing me in the control room right after the first bout of chaos at the Ball before I saved Coran. Allura and I haven't gotten married and she's not pregnant. Nanny seems oddly fine with me - that's going to change, I think saving Coran just earned me a few weeks of something... Liona, the Princess from the future, yeah she was my daughter, Allura's and mine. And yeah Keith went to the future too and he came back even more mad."

"Allura broke his heart."

"No. She and I did with all our lies."

Lara nodded. "Right. Keith, he's all about honor and trust. But you... you're such a straight shooter Lance. Why did you lie?"

"Lara. We..." Lance sighed. "Hindsight has me questioning every time someone asks. But it felt so right at the time. Allura... I was protecting her maybe. Protecting myself. What we found out, we would have had to tell them everything if we told them. Me a King? What a joke, right?"

Lara shook her head. "To people who don't really know you maybe, not to me. I thought about your reaction when I brought up the Underground. You... You reacted the way I wanted someone in this Castle to react to the people of Arus who need help. You're their King."

"You sound like Allura," Lance said.

"Why you picked me to try to replace her?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "No, I don't think..I picked you because you were hot, challenging and I knew you'd keep saying no, if I think about it."

Her laughter bounced off the walls of his room. She stepped forward, grabbed his hands. "I'm glad you figured out what you were running from, whatever triggered the running. It did seem rather out of the blue. I mean we're on a date where you make a date with someone else, then you're all about me? It was so strange, Lance."

"I forgot about that..."

"Again," Lara laughed. "She still asks me if I'm dating the Princess and you, you know."

"Who?"

"Never mind..." Lara squeezed his hands. "I'll miss seeing you so often, but I have a feeling we'll see each other. I plan to be a loud voice for the people of Arus. Causing all sorts of political trouble," Lara said with a wink.

Lance smirked at her. "Wouldn't expect anything else from you, you care about the planet, always have... Probably another reason I always liked you - a lot."

"And we had great sex," Lara said, pushing up on her toes she kissed his cheek.

Lance shook his head slightly as she pressed her lips against his unshaven cheek. "Yeah, that was a bonus," he laughed under his breath, though it felt a lifetime ago. He couldn't imagine it now, could barely remember it now, his only thoughts were of Allura - hell the last time he'd been with Lara he'd been thinking about Allura, even called her Allura.

Lara pulled back and he met her eyes, such vibrant green and he grinned. "Don't cause me and Allura too much trouble, okay?" he said, frowning when he thought about all the trouble he was going to facing within the castle walls alone. He didn't want to think about the average Arusian citizen was going to take the switch from Keith to him, let alone the idea he was the True King and his connection to the planet... They didn't trust the Seers, something that once had century upon century of Arusian tradition behind it.

"What's wrong?" Lara asked.

"Just going to miss you, I know you're an ally." Lance winked at her. "Take care of yourself, and you know... Your mom isn't really all that bad, Lara."

Lara sighed. "I know, it's just...my mother."

Lance nodded and laughed and moved in and gave Lara a hug, pulling her into him closely, to give her a proper goodbye. She'd been a big part of his Arus life, and she'd been there for a lot of the craziness when he and Allura came back. "I owe you a lot, thanks for never letting me get away with crap, especially about Allura."

"No problem," Lara laughed. "Even I have my limits when it comes to casual fun, Lance."

He nodded. "I didn't mean too..."

"You didn't..." she said. "Really, you didn't...You did get under my skin more than I would have liked though. Made me realize I might want more from life than just casual fun..."

"Make sure he picks you up at home."

"Don't quote my mother," Lara laughed.

Lance grabbed her hand and pulled her over to his door. "Lara, when she's right she's right."

Lara shook her head. "I don't think I've met him yet, but when I do, I'll keep that in mind..."

Lance was about to open the door when it opened and Allura was standing there. Seeing her he felt more awake, less worried about Keith, and everything else rushing around in his head. He dropped Lara's hand and reached out to grab Allura, but she stepped backward.

"Hi, Lara," she said her voice sounding odd.

"Allura," Lara said.

"How are you, from the energy spell?"

"Fine, I was very lucky not to be injured before hand."

Allura paled and nodded. "We lost too many people, yes, and invited guests," she looked down the hall toward the Throne room, and Coran's offices.

"I was just saying goodbye to Lance."

"Goodbye? That's rather final."

"Well, he no longer needs me for any false pretenses, of his own, or for Keith."

Allura blushed, then she met Lance's eyes. He held out his hand, she grabbed it then and he yanked, pulling her into his room, right into the threshold of the door. She turned toward Lara, but moved into Lance's hold.

"Thank you for agreeing to be his date for the ball, again."

"It was for friend, I'm sure we'll see each other again, Allura. As I told Lance, I plan to be a strong voice for the Arusian people. My Queen and King will know me by sound and sight quite well I am sure."

Allura nodded, a small smile tugging on her lips. "I hope so, I do actually count on you to be an ally with us on at least a few issues."

"Yes, I am sure you do, Goodbye Allura."

Lance caught Lara's gaze again, warm and sweet, she arched an brow. "Goodbye."

"Bye," he said.

She walked off and the door closed, leaving him and Allura alone.

"Hey," he said pushing Allura against the closed door, pressing his mouth against hers. He felt like he hadn't kissed her in years, she melted under his touch and she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

_I got scared when I saw Lara._

_What the hell for?_

_I don't know... she was your girlfriend, I was Keith's..._

_Baby, it was always you._

Allura broke away, her cheeks were bright when she met his eyes. "Yes, but..."

"What?"

"You and her, you had that whole... Lance and Lara, casual thing when you were always saying you weren't the marrying kind and dating all those others girls too."

"And lying to myself, Allura."

She smiled. "She was your favorite."

"Because she was a handful and kind of crazy," Lance said, laughing. Leading Allura to the bed. "She, she knew I loved you before I did, she told me more than once."

Allura smiled. "She did, I wish someone had told me how much I loved you before it crashed down on me. I could have used a warning at how unbelievably terrifying it was as well as terrific."

Lance touched her face, pushed hair behind her ears and nodded. "The warning was no help, it's still terrifying and terrific."

"We have to face our mistakes."

"I know."

"I..."

"Shh," Lance pulled him into her and kissed her again, pulling her down on top of him, so they were lying on his bed. "We need some time, alone, Allura."

Allura nodded then kissed him herself, her hands threading in his hair. "I love you, I want to make love with you."


	79. Chapter 79

ATTN: M-RATED M-RATED

Chapter Seventy-nine

"I love you, I want to make love with you."

"Now?" He didn't squeak, damn did he squeak? Lance maneuvered himself and her on top of him, so he could sit up a bit and push her back and look more directly into her eyes. "Now?"

Allura nodded, cheeks red, teeth worrying the skin of her lower lip. "I want you in me," she whispered.

"I..." He ran gripped her hips, he leaned forward and kissed her, his head spinning about all the reasons why their first time wasn't supposed to be in his room. It wasn't romantic, they hadn't rested in days, there were no flowers, there was no romance, there were no condoms, he hadn't seduced her at her to put her in the mood...

She pulled away from the kiss. "I don't care about flowers, or the so called right moves, Lance. I care about us and I, uh," her hand dug into the back pocket of her jeans and she pulled out three condoms, still blushing her deep rosy red.

"Sending out those thoughts huh?" he asked, knowing the answer, staring at both the condoms and her perfect face. Her perfect, beautiful face, her perfect beautiful amazing face. "You're too beautiful," he whispered, his hands flying from her hips to her face as he flew forward and kissed her deeply.

She kissed him back fiercely, her hands falling onto his face, then his shoulders, her mind was inside his. _Is this a yes. Please? I'm still scared but I'm not frightened, I want you, I know you want me..._

_God, Allura... I'm terrified. I've... I haven't been with anyone where it mattered before._ He told her, not for the first time as he softened their kiss but didn't break, taking air in through his nose, flipping them on the bed so Allura is underneath him.

She tightened her legs around his waist, pushing up against him. _It's new for both of us then, we've been going blind through everything else, why not this?_

_Bravest person I know, Allura...it's you. He broke their kiss and grabbed both her hands with his, the condoms crushed between them in their right. "Are you sure?"_

"Yes," Allura said, kissing his chin.

Lance smiled, he felt giddy all of a sudden, lighter than he had in days, he gripped her hands and pulled her with him off the bed. Her eyes widened, taking in the path they were on.

"I thought..." she said, glancing back to the bed.

"Don't worry we'll be back to the bed," he said with a wink, pulling her back into his arms, kissing her. His Allura, the Princess, the most beautiful and amazing woman in creation... Impossibly real and his... "Are you sure your real?" he asked, between a series of kisses, as he walked them backward into his bathroom.

"I am not a hallucination," Allura laughed.

"Not what I meant," Lance laughed, remembering how he'd been so wary of believing that he could touch her after the cave, because it'd been so sure it'd been a dream. "I just, how can someone be as beautiful, smart, and brave as you are and exist."

"Lance," Allura shook her head.

Lance grinned, grabbed her by her hips and sat her on the bathroom counter, putting the condoms on the counter next to her. He grabbed a handful of her hair and played with it, gazing into her eyes. "When we first got here, I would watch you and wonder. You were so hopeful and so sure we would change everything for Arus. I thought you were too hopeful but then we did. Your people came out of their caves, things did turn around - not without costs. Not without you making sacrifices too, but... I... You are the bravest soul I know and you never give up hope..."

"It can be detriment," Allura sighed. "I get so focused on what I think is my hope, I might miss the real bright shiny treasure," she moved her arms around his neck. "I wasted so much time not realizing where I really belonged."

"I'm not all that shiny," Lance said.

"Are to me," Allura said. "Why are we in here."

"Because I came here to take a long shower, and there is no way I'm making love with you for the first time without one." Lance turned around and turned on the spray. "But it can definitely help things along," he headed glancing over his shoulder.

Allura was grinning at him, her top off, her breasts bare and tying up her hair with a piece of string she tore off her shirt. Her dark blush was down her chest, flush against her breast but her eyes were bright blue, her chin out and defiant. "Whatever you say," she said.

"Jesus, woman, trying to kill me or bed me?" Lance shook his head, pulled off his own top and crossed the space between them. He kissed her, hands everywhere, pulling at her jeans, he felt his own pants get snapped open. There was a tangle of pants, underwear and feet that them both laughing as they almost fell in heap because of it and then they were in the shower, pulling off the others socks and tossing them in wet plops onto the floor outside.

The spray was too cool, but Allura was warm so Lance barely noticed it except for the goosepimples across Allura's skin, as he kissed her neck. He grabbed blindly for the knob and adjusted the temperature. She moved into him, biting at his shoulder lightly, her tongue darting out.

"I want to count your freckles," she giggled. "Is that stupid."

"About all their good for," he muttered.

"I think they're sexy, thinking of counting them with my tongue," Allura whispered.

"Again, kill or bed, Allura..." Lance groaned, lowering his head to her breasts, licking between them.

_Bed. Bed. Bed. Bed_. Allura whispered in his head, as she was too busy moaning from his tongue against her breasts, head thrown back. "Ngggh," she gasped. _You're trying to kill me, not take me, admit it..._

He tweaked her nipple lightly with his teeth, before pulling away with a smirk on his face. "Oh, I'm going to take you, Baby."

"Promise!"

Her smile was the brighter than anything in the world, he felt dazed and he nodded, grabbed for his soap behind her back, and kissed her cheek. "I just want this to be..."

"It's already perfect," Allura whispered, kissing his cheek too.

"It's more than that," Lance said. "I..."

Allura took the soap from him and started to lather up his chest, "What?" she asked, kissing his neck as she washed. "We've got nothing to hide, Lance, not from each other."

He grabbed her hand, making her drop the soap, pushed her against the shower wall, one of his hands coming up to trace her face. He was hard, ready, willing but he couldn't just pick her up and slam her against the wall. He didn't want to pick her up and carry her to his bed either and take her... It couldn't be too simple, it couldn't be too much, what the hell was the balance and how the hell did he make it right, good and not hurt for her.

"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered.

"You couldn't, how could you," she whispered, all trust and sweetness.

"Allura, I'm talking physically," he smiled, taking the soap hand he held and putting it on his length. His eyes nearly rolling up inside his head. She'd never even touched him before. Her hand on him was almost enough, especially the way her fingers instinctively curved around him, and moved imperceptibly up and down, not really sliding but not staying still either.

She'd been purposely not looking down, he'd been watching her focus on his chest, his eyes, his neck but now she was looking down, eyes wide, mouth open - and he was thinking things, so many damn things. A part of him wanting to push her to her knees but it wasn't the time, he closed his eyes as his cock twitched at both the thought and her barely there push-pull on his cock.

"It always felt big, and it looked big in the cave outlined against your uniform...I...just...How does it fit?"

"It's meant too, it will but... Don't they give you any sex education?" Lance muttered, leaning his forehead against hers.

Allura sighed. "Coran gave me a book when you guys first got here, then a week later Nanny showed up to corral me away from you all as much as possible..." she giggled.

"A book and Nanny?"

"The book was very...dry," Allura looked up, meeting his eyes and started to move her hand more. "Is this okay?"

"Killing me again," he groaned. "It's going to hurt the first time, Allura."

"I don't care, it can't hurt that much if people rush into this and go back for more over and over again. Too many stories about it for every race of humanoids there is..."

"I want to say that is wise, but that seems wrong somehow..."

Allura laughed, her eyes going down to what she was doing to him, Lance closed his eyes, thinking her experienced touch was fucking perfect, she was too beautiful and everything she did was perfect. She would kill someday just because of it all, he was sure... He'd die happy.

"Stop, Baby," he whispered.

"Why? Don't you like it?" she asked looking up at him.

"Too much," he whispered back, kissing her quickly and turning the water up higher, they'd let it run for too long now, but he had time before the hot water gave up completely. He dropped to his knees, pulled her by her hips to his face. "Widen your stance," he said and then laughed at how it sounded. Like they were about to spar.

She giggled, nervous but her legs spread apart enough and he moved in with finger tips and tongue into her center, tasting her there for the first time. _Addicted, addicted, addicted already...love you so much Allura, going to make you come and crush down so hard you'll forget where we are..._

~~.~~

_B-b-ed, bed...not kill. Allura moaned out loud,_ Suppose to bed me, Lance, not kill me. "Oh, oh!" She hit her head against the wall of the shower, water sloshing over them both, her hands falling into Lance's hair. How was he breathing, with his nose and tongue tightly pressed in against her? How did he know where to rub his fingers so perfectly inside of her, she wanted more of him inside of her though. She wanted more and more, she fought the urge to wrap her legs around his neck and push his head into her center, push him. She felt like she might tumble apart, she moved away and into it both things feeling right, the away feeling wrong but she was afraid. She hated being afraid of crazy, perfect and out of control this made her feel - because she was happy, she was so happy.

_You aren't going away are you?_ She whispered into his head, pushing at his head, wanting more of his tongue against her clitoris, more of his fingers deep inside of her. She was so hot, the cooling of the water was welcome rather than shocking, yet fear was on her too, hard and furious.

_I'd stay right here forever if I could, live right here, licking you and finger fucking you until the end of time._

It was dirty, it was beautiful Allura thought and she moaned at the words, she sighed out, and ignored the tears that falling down her cheeks that she didn't completely understands. "Lance, I... I don't... I... can't..."

_You can, Allura, I have you. I'm here and I'm always going to be right here, holding you...probably too tight, afraid you might vanish. An hallucination...like in the cave._

He licked with the flat of the bottom of tongue then, crooked the finger inside as he spoke and his own fear of this vanishing apart on them reminded her she wasn't alone in being afraid of things wanted and happy and she cried out in pleasure both aloud and in Lance's head. His name, that she loved him, she didn't know. Everything went spotted rainbows, everything went black, everything was white and then she was in Lance's arms, feeling weightless and lighter than she'd felt in months as they kissed, deeply, slowly as if they had all the time in the world.

Lance pulled away from her mouth slowly, his mouth sucking on her bottom lip, and locked his gaze with hers his eyes dark, mostly brown and beautiful she thought. Allura pressed her breasts against his chest and looked up into his eyes, wondering at how liquid and light she felt but she still had tears falling down her face.

His thumbs were on her face, drying the tears, and that is when she realized he'd turned off the shower at some point...pleasure like that stopped time, there were other ways to time travel and she'd found the best way, she thought idly with a smile.

"Why are you crying?"

"I love you," she whispered, knowing it wasn't an explanation. "I love you and I need you," she added, feeling she had no words for the happiness and the fear of it rushing through her. "Please, Lance, make love with me, I need you in me," she repeated her earlier requested, her body humming from her most recent pleasure, she kissed the hallow of his throat. _I don't know how to explain the tears, it's Father, it's Liona, it's fear of this being fragile...it feels so precious. You don understand don't you?_ She kissed her way to his jaw and then he moved their mouths were pressed together, tongues together and his hands were at her hips, sliding to her ass and her legs were wrapping around his waist. She felt his erection between them, pressed against her center, her lower belly and his. She pressed against it, deepening the kiss. _Want you in me._

He kissed her, as only he could, waking up feelings and sensations she never knew she held or could feel. Lance moved them out of the shower, he ordered her in her mind to hang on tight and his hands moved off her body but she clung to him, as he grabbed the condoms and then took them out of the bathroom.

They were both damp, his hair was dripping wet Allura realized as she moved her hands into it, but none of that mattered. Lance was kissing her deeper than ever before and then suddenly she was on her back on the bed and he was looking down at her with love bringing out the warm browns of his eyes.

_I don't trust my voice,_ he thought and even his voice in her head was thick with emotion. _I keep asking you to tell me this is real, that I'm not crazy and hallucinating you. I've had so many dreams Allura, and in that cave mixed in with all the real were all those mirages... I keep thinking this is all going to be one long crazy dream. I'll wake up and time travel, me being the King of Fire, Liona - or beautiful Liona - all nothing but my crazy imagination finding a way to give me you. My perfect impossible, brave, stubborn, fierce, compassionate, woman._

_I used to tell anyone who listened I didn't want to get married, I didn't want children, it was always a lie, so much of one I bought it myself for a long time. Until you, I never thought... I thought I couldn't have you._

_You have me. You've had me for longer than I even knew. I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner, I'm sorry I wasted so much time..._

"Shh," Lance shook his head.

"I love you, I'm yours, I'm not a mirage."

"I'm not going to abandon you, I'm not going anywhere, I'm never leaving Arus - She is my planet, I am her King..." he grinned his cockiest grin as he climbed over, his nose bumping into hers. _Ready for me? He asked, kissing her._

_To make love with me, yes, yes, been forever it feels..._ She said, feeling his tongue against the roof her mouth, his hands lifting her legs up and around his waist. He broke the kiss and nodded, looking in her eyes and she realized sometime during all the talking he'd put on a condom, he grabbed a pillow as he moved away from her mouth. Lance pulled her legs more around his waist, told her with a look or his mind to lift her hips - she wasn't sure which she only knew to comply. THe pillow went under her hips and then he was leaning back over her, starting to slide his length into her.

She was wet, he seemed to be, lubricant on the condom she idly thought - she suddenly hated the condom, she had to see Gorma, she had to get on birth control. _I want to really feel you_, she whined until his length and width hit resistance, and she shuddered and her breathe hitched in pain. "Ow," she let out without being able to stop it.

"I know, I'm sorry," Lance said, leaning over he kissed her again, deeply, perfectly, he grabbed one of her hands, bringing it with his own and placing it over her clitoris, moving both their fingers over and over it as he kissed her.

"Oh!" Realization, perfection, this was why he was hers, he knew how to show her, tell her, give her all the right lessons in all the perfect ways, Allura thought. He slide in all the way soon after, she winced but he kept kissing her, they kept rubbing her, and then he stopped their hands - Allura had felt so close to coming again she whined in complaint.

Lance pulled away from her mouth, gave her a goofy grin. "Don't worry, you'll come," he laughed.

Allura laughed too, nervous, knowing she must be red, had to red and she bit her lip. Lance inside her felt amazing, less intrusive than she imagined, and even more right than she'd thought. She closed her eyes and shifted, Lance groaned and he slid back and the forward, and started to build a rhythm. Allura moved opposition to it, to meet it, to build it with him and create the best form of friction, she gripped him with her thighs, she grabbed him with her hands. They were kissing, they were touching and they were slip-sliding and then Allura saw white, rainbows and Lance was pounding and groaned, falling heavy but she could feel him in her head feeling weightless.

They fell asleep, wrapped together, smiling.


	80. Chapter 80

Chapter Eighty

_Keith you don't have to make the omelets._

"But it's your favorite breakfast," he argued, without thought.

_Keith pay attention._

"Tara, I am, to the eggs, they'll burn if I don't..."

_ Keith look_!

Keith blinked and the spatula in his hand vanished, as well as the stove, with the omelet sizzling on the pan. Even the kitchen vanished until he was standing in large blank space. It had no shape, nor did have size, it wasn't colorless yet it seemed to hold no color. He looked up and saw no sky, he looked down and saw no ground under his feet - his bare feet, for he was wearing what he had worn that morning. That hadn't disappeared, the black silk boxers that matched Tara's black silk teddy.

Tara was in front of him, wearing the teddy, her long hair falling over her shoulders and she smiled. "You're home, you were gone longer than I expected you to be."

"I was gone for little under half an hour."

"I felt it as you did, in your time, in the time it took to get you back."

Keith grimaced, thinking of the hours in the far future, the day in Liona's future seeing them, Lance and Allura, so happy and surrounded by love. "Tara..."

"I cling to you."

He felt hit in the stomach, the same way he had when Mira had spoken the same words in that place that had made him feel cornered, small, had him feeling like a wild animal that wanted to run for its life but could only growl in sound loud to defend itself. "Tara," he whispered her name breaking as he swallowed, throat dry a lump in the back of it making breathing hard. "I..."

"Shh, relax, you know it's true."

Keith shook his head. "I...was moving on."

"You were going through the motions, you were thinking about it, you were thinking I can fall for her, she's beautiful, I'm attracted, she's attracted, we have a lot in common. We make a good match on paper, why not in life?" Tara laughed. "We never made sense Keith, don't you remember?"

"What, no? We made perfect sense, I knew it the minute I first held your hand and looked into your eyes."

Tara smiled. "That was a wonderful moment, but we knew each other for months before then, we talked, we even flirted a little bit, but we fought too, and sometimes I wondered if you liked me. When I realized you did, it surprised me how much it mattered, how relieved I was, how much I needed to know you didn't hate me. How I knew I'd fallen for you, somehow..."

Keith shook his head. "Why, how, I don't understand how could think I would hate you, Tara..."

"You've only been remembering the perfect times, and our last moments. Perfect moments of love and happiness, and that last morning, the omelets, my mother calling, standing at the curb and you getting a call from Lance, slowing you down from stepping down into the street. Thank destiny for that!"

"No!"

"Yes, you are meant to be here, where you are... You took my death out on Lance for how long, Keith?"

Keith felt hot, neck and cheeks flushing, shame was like standing on hot coals. He shook his head, I know I did, I have a vague sense of it, but how I did it, how it ended? No. Those first months, that whole year...it's a blur, Tara, and then...We were deployed."

"And your destiny began."

"Voltron," Keith said, knowing it to be true.

"As corny as it sounds, yes, you, all of you were destined for here, for Arus."

Bitter laughter escaped his throat. "You mean Lance was destined for Arus, to yap with her."

Tara reached out and touched his face. "Keith, my love. You are the Hero, and you are needed, more than can know and sooner rather than later. You must remember your faith and trust in them because their path led them to where they are. It wasn't meant to hurt you. You have a different path but yes it's entwined with theirs. Open your eyes, watch, listen, remember who Lance is, remember who Allura is, remember who you are... And remember just how flawed we were too."

"But..."

Tara faded away.

"No, no! Tara come back, come back, damn it, no," he tried to grab onto her fading form but his hands just flew through her, even though he could still feel the pressure of her hand against his cheek. "No!"

Keith woke up in a cold sweat her name on his lips, his blankets tossed to the floor.

~~.~~

Mira sat on the stone by the underground river, she deep in the Underground, below the city, the spirit of her mother, miles away from where she'd burned on Hallowed ground stood breathtaking and untouchable in front of her.

_Mira, you are upset._

"I'm having a hard time seeing things, I see only Lance and Allura's quiet moments, and I tend to keep a distant from those..." Mira blushed.

_Soft laughter._ Mira felt a wave of understand, a warmth on her shoulder as if a hand had pressed itself against it. _Mira, your path of sight is going to be a difficult one. You will have to meditate, to learn to trust your instincts, and intuitions more than third eye. Your life is to become entwined with theirs. But you will learn to balance it, and how to see and guide the King and Queen._

"I don't understand, I know I will be in their lives, but how I will be so involved."

_Your path is yours to find. Where is it leading you? Why else have you come to me today?_

"I worry about the Captain of the Voltron Force. The possibilities I do see with him in them, he is so angry and distant with the both of them. I fear he won't let them back in. Won't trust them...Tarus says that Voltron needs Unity that if the Unity fails them that..." Mira sighs. "It's not Tarua's edict that bothers me. I feel it too, I know it. I feel like I'm supposed to reach out to Keith, yet...he isn't my charge. I do not understand the pull I feel to him."

Altea smiled as began to fade away. _ Mira, my daughter, follow what your heart wants._

Mira frowned her eyes on the stone behind where her mother's spirit had been. _Her heart?_ Mira didn't understand. It felt like an instinct to reach out to the Captain. She looked at him and saw a man holding to many things on his shoulders, someone who had the misfortune to be waylaid by one too many secrets all at once. Secrets that hurt him, lies that were painful. His heart was hurt, Mira could see it in his energy, he tried to keep his face and his expression blank but somehow she saw nothing but sadness in his dark eyes.

She never felt such a urge to take away sadness from someone before. It was strange, new, she wondered if it was about knowing how important his ability to forgive his Lance and Alllura was to Arus. Her visions were shifting, many things remained the same but so many things were changing, the Unknown Hand, had fixed a problem she feel the healing in the energy around coming off the planet and aiding her in her ability to See.

She was linked to them for life, they were who she saw, who she felt, who she was meant to record for History of Arus, past and future alike. She was to their Guide. Hopefully also she would be a friend, for she liked them both a lot. That was her heart, she realized, she liked them. She liked the Voltron Force. She liked Captain Keith Kogane.

She didn't like seeing his pain.

~~.~~

He was lava, he was fire itself in liquid form, bubbling with life inside a living mountain, pressing against it's walls, biding its time until the next time it would rise up and fly up against the rock, scrap out and push through the entrance at the top and spill out into the air, the world. It wondered what it would be like to slowly cool, would He like it...

Lance woke up, sensations colliding, he was the lava, he was himself, he was the volcano red resided in and he was in his bed holding Allura. He was holding Allura.

He grinned, his arms tightening around her, the sensation of being the lava in the volcano still there, the knowledge that some day it was going to erupt again - but no time soon, in the back of his head. But it wasn't nearly as important as the beautiful, perfect, amazing woman in his bed.

His alarm went off, irritated he slammed, wondering just why he had to get up at 7:00 am every day anyway... "Shit!" He groaned, ran his hands up and down Allura's arms, her back, into her hair, making himself not touch any other parts of her because damn it they had to get her out of here. There was no enjoying the morning after bliss of making love.

He shifted his weight under her until he had them facing each other, side by side on his bed, his heart hammering his head. He'd be with her forever, but last night felt like a dream still, they'd made love and falling asleep for little while, waking up later to make love again two more times, Allura more sure every time. He felt more amazed and more in love every time.

A part of him was still sure she'd slipped through his fingers, if Nanny figured out what they'd been doing in her, she might cut off his... He shook his head and stopped that train of thought.

Leaning forward he kissed Allura, taking his time, licking her lips, slowly opening her mouth. Sleepily she started to respond, he knew she was awake when her arms wrapped around his neck and she started to try to wrap her legs around his waist.

_We can't, Baby_, he told her, pushing her away gently.

_Why?_ She asked deepening the kiss.

She would be the death of him, Lance moaned giving into the kiss but let out the truth as well. _It's seven_.

Allura popped off his mouth, she sat up in glorious nakedness and paled. "Oh my, God!"

He nodded.

Allura jumped out of his bed, started running around gathering her clothes and hopping into them, and turned pinker and pinker every time she looked up at him and caught him watching unabashedly.

"I can't believe Nanny hasn't been in here screaming..."

The door chime beeped.

Allura covered her mouth, dropping her top to the floor, and uncovering her breasts. Lance climbed out of the bed, held up his finger at her, grinning at her with a cocked eyebrow. Allura blushed more when she saw his arousal, but she grinned and bent down to pull on her top; she'd already put on her jeans.

"Yeah who is it?" He asked pushing a button.

"Tell, Allura to get out here." It was Nanny.

Lance and Allura exchanged a looked, Lance paled, his heart stopped, he was definitely no longer turned on. Nanny sounded way too calm. "Uh, Allura, who?"

"King Lance, please do not make me use the override code I have in my possession. I am an old maid, not a dead lady. I am well aware what must have been happening in there last night - Castle secrets are Castle secrets, only if I can get a handle on them BEFORE MY MAIDS. Princess Allura, get out of there right now, so we can maintain the pretending of your virginity. And from now on, you two will be doing this in Allura's Chambers' and King Lance, you will be leaving by 4 am, is that clear!" Nanny yelled through the intercom.

Allura by this time was a deep pink but she stopped at the threshold of the door to kiss his cheek. _Love you._

_Love you, too, Lance said eyes wide as he opened the door for Allura._

Nanny stood there, and smiled. "Good, good," she said, then turned to Lance. "ACH, ACH, LEARN TO PUT CLOTHES ON YOUR HIGHNESS! MY EYES!" Nanny covered her eyes, grabbed Allura's arm. "There are things a servant should not see, that King is going to put me to early gray hairs and an early grave, Allura!"

~~.~~

Lance walked into Control Room twenty minutes later to find Keith there staring at nothing on the Main View Screen. At least Lance thought it was nothing, the view was of Arus in space. There was nothing going on, not really, Lance saw a million things he'd never noticed before his mind reeling and still trying to define, figure out and figure out how to deal with it all. But he was pushing all that aside for another day because he had other things to deal with first one of them being the man standing in the room with him.

"Hey."

Keith turned to face him, his face a mask. "Oh. You."

"Yeah, me," Lance said. "Your second in command."

"Is that what you are?"

"Of course, and your friend, Keith. Like I've always been?"

"No, no. You aren't that, _Your Highness._"


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter Eighty-one

Lance bristled. It wasn't the _Your Highness_, it wasn't even the denial of their friendship, though that stung him. Keith got what he wanted there, Lance hurt, it was the tone Keith had. It was cold, final, aloof, cut off. He'd shut Lance out.

Keith either let you in, or he shut you out. You were either someone he knew and trusted. Or you weren't. He might remember your name, he might be cordial, he might even laugh at a joke - but you'd never know anything about Keith Kogane. Wouldn't know if he remembered your name because it was the right and courteous thing to do, or because he wanted to. You wouldn't know if he laughed at your joke because it was funny, or he was being polite.

He was treating Lance like a stranger; no worse, he was treating Lance like he was someone he only knew on the job. He'd slammed down a wall that Lance had never recalled being there between them since the day they met. Lance had been a lucky one, he knew that. Few people met Keith Kogane and didn't meet the wall first. Him and Allura, they were the only ones he knew of... Even Tara, even Tara had to get past the Wall...though he'd kept it up with Tara on purpose because she drove him a bit batty. Lance had to swallow the smile at the memories.

Thinking about the past helped him though, it pushed away the sting at the bitter cold wall Keith had up, made him able to grit his teeth and take the cold, bitter, condescending _Your Highness_.

"Fine. So, Captain what are you doing? Anything I should know about?"

"Are you asking as my second or as the..." Keith's eyes rolled. "The King?"

This was going to be a long day, Lance realized, he should have know it when Nanny came chiming at his door. "As your second, Keith."

"Captain."

Is he... Lance clenched his jaw and his fists, it wouldn't do to hit Keith right off the bat. He couldn't, he shouldn't lose his temper here...but really? "Are you fucking serious?" _okay, shouldn't have sworn_.

Keith turned from the screen. "I'm the Captain. You are Commander, King, or Your Highness. Let's just keep it that way, right?"

"No, Keith. Calling you what I've always called you. Keith, Chief, Fearless Leader... Whatever. You can be as frosty as you wish to be, the temperature is colder than it is the north pole on Arus right now - and I know what that is," Lance sighed, his brain supplying him with that temperature reading taking him by surprise even as he said it matter-of-factly. "We've got a lot of things to get used too, a lot of things to work out...and damn it, I don't want you calling me King, least of all Your Highness."

"You are the, "True King" are you not?" Keith asked darkly, as his fingers made air quotes around the title of prophecy.

It was Lance's turn to roll his eyes at it all. "I am. It's a weird title, given over the years from high minded Seers Keith. All it means is I'm connected to Arus, to the Lions. It... I don't totally know what it means. Coran said something about their being a Crown King and a True King at the same time in the past. I don't even think it means I have to rule, which is great because I'm not taking anything away from Allura...I love this planet, I do but it's not my place to rule it."

Keith chuckled bitterly. "Love this planet, love Allura," Keith shook his head and hit a button. "So, why did you two never tell us about this!"

Lance looked at the main screen; empty control room, quiet, dark, then a high-pitched whine, then the tell-tale bright light and there they were. Him and Allura, in their future clothes, Allura clutching the True King scroll, Laurie had given her.

"Don't give me the we wouldn't have believed you," Keith said in a voice that was way too calm. He paused it on them standing there talking, standing close, looking like they were whispering. Lance tried to recall if they had been? Muted tones probably, he thought as Keith continued. "Don't tell me we wouldn't buy the crazy story because this vid feed is pretty telling. Pidge also says we could judged from the clothing you were wearing. What happened to them anyway?"

"Tossed them out the airlock of Red, straight into the volcano."

"Why? Why the lying about a trip to the future Lance, why never tell us. You two used knowledge to save lives. Would have been easier to get us on board, if we knew what the real deal was. Instead of you two having to tell tales, lie by omission..." Keith pinned Lance with a dark stare. "So, many lies, Lance, so many damn lies."

Lance tore his gaze away from Keith's, he looked back that screen, he looked at Allura. Allura who would snap at him every time he made mention he'd be a horrible King but who paled and cried at any of thought of being with anyone but Keith at that time. Keith, Keith, Keith...

It was a fantastical story. Video feed, possible scientific proof in fabrics from the future. Their tattoos, maybe... It'd been three months of watching Allura fall apart trying to deal with the idea her happily ever after wasn't what she wanted it to be. She wasn't ready to face it, she didn't plan on facing it...

He wanted her to be happy.

"We would've had to tell you everything, Keith. The team everything if we came clean. Who we met, what we saw, who was King, who was Queen. It was knowledge of a future and one Allura was hell bent on changing at that... It... Allura didn't want anyone knowing we were married in some future because it wasn't going to happen. Her dream was you," Lance shrugged.

Keith turned off the feed. "Right, she and I are planning the wedding now as we speak."

"Keith..."

"No instead you two lied and fell in love."

"Keith it felt like the right call."

"Not telling your team you went to the future seemed like the right call?"

"Because Allura wanted it!" Lance yelled. "Okay, it was what she wanted and I... I fell in love with her. Was falling, was in love with her already before even left. I don't even know anymore. All I know is it's impossible for me to look into her tear filled blue eyes and not try to give her what she wants. She wanted to change to the future when we came back from it. Admitting what it was out loud would've been... Giving in."

Keith started to open his mouth but Lance held up his hand. "And you know what, I didn't want to give in that future either. I didn't want to get her because some ancestors of mine from an almost perfect future told me we had this perfect life. There is not perfect life, or perfect love. And I wasn't supposed to want to be married with kids anyway...but it all got under skin anyway. But I couldn't have Allura, not Allura, she was out of grasp. Destiny or not. And the facts are I love her destiny or not, Keith. So yeah, we made a bad call, but you didn't get your life turned upset like we did that night... I get Allura and I did turn it upside down over time with the lies, and the confusion. I get that when you went there yourself you had a surprise with the paintings and Liona. But damn it Keith, Allura and I still who we are!"

"When things started happening why keep up the damn lies, Lance. The bomb!"

"We weren't sure, and by the time we were certain, Keith it was too late. Anna was here, Coran was in that damn spell, Liona was terrified, beautiful and a here...what a mouth and what a fighter..." Lance trailed off realizing he was going a tangent about his daughter that neither here or there for the moment.

Keith looked away again. "And Allura, cheating on me with you?"

Lance shook his head. "Wrong. Unintentional, unexpected but still wrong. I made the call on not telling you about us before the Ball. We weren't official together until right before the bomb, that morning really. That was when it all came together. Then the bomb. I made the call because I wanted you sharp, Keith. And you were already looking hurt, you were already on to us, I didn't want you more distracted by finding out you were right."

"You mean you didn't trust me to protect her."

"No!" Lance flailed in his mind, trying to think of what to say to that. "Keith..."

"Just...get out. Go away and do something Kingly, Commander." Keith turned his back on him.

Circles, circles. Too many lies and no good reason for any of them. All choices were wrong in some way, he and Allura had done the best they thought they could. Hindsight was always clearer but he can't say he'd change much of his actions, expect maybe accept his feelings for Allura sooner...so as not to use Lara. Allura would wish to not hurt Keith...

He wished to not hurt Keith.

_Remind him who you are_. Lance heard in his head. _Who I am?_ He asked himself.

"I'm not going anywhere." Lance said.

"Go. You're dismissed. It's an order."

"No."

"What?" Keith spun.

"I don't accept that order. It's a self-serving ridiculous order. I belong here with you, right now."

Keith sputtered. "Lance, I want space, you keep trying to invade it I will hurt you."

"Fine. I like living dangerously."

"Son of bitch," Keith gritted his teeth. "I told myself I wasn't going to do this" Keith broke the space between so quickly Lance almost didn't see it coming. The punch flying at his face, Lance dodged enough it missed his face but the hit caught his shoulder.

The force had him staggering back, his left hand flying up almost to touch area that was sure to be bruised for weeks. Instead though he switched directions with his left and slammed Keith with a sudden left hook.

The fight was on.

~~.~~

"This couldn't have made you happy," she said as she slapped a steak Nanny had gotten from the kitchen onto his black-eye.

"It did at the time."

"During the fight?" she asked, pulling another chair closer to the one he sat in while she held the steak to his eye. "I don't think I understand."

"It felt good to hit him."

She frowned, he watched her and wondered why she was here. Why he was with her at this moment, letting her hold a steak to his eye. He could do it himself, he could take care of himself. "Mira..."

"And now you are both bloody and bruised, Keith?" she asked over him and then she sighed. "Yes?"

"You saw the fight?"

"Yes."

"So you ran to stop us?"

Mira looked away from him for a moment, he watched her thinking there was something different about her. It wasn't a Seer thing, there was something about the way she carried herself. It was the Underground he thought... He'd noticed a similar weight to all of them, they all seemed older, wiser, heavier...except Mira didn't have the heaviness. But she seemed older and wiser. Nonetheless.

"I perhaps shouldn't have taken it upon myself to break up the fight. It seemed the best move at the time. I was close to the control room, and I did run by Nanny holding my skirts practically over my head - or at least that is what she shrieked after me."

Keith shook his head. "I never want my ear in that woman's hand again."

Mira stifled a giggle.

Keith glared.

"I am sorry, Keith but the looks on both your and Lance's faces when she grabbed your ears. It was... well, I won't forget it."

Keith grumbled, reached up and brushed his hand against hers to take over holding the steak. "I can handle this myself."

She slowly pulled her hand off the steak but she was studying him, Keith met her gaze again and he didn't like what he was feeling - last two times his instincts told him this had led him to this black eye. He couldn't afford to trust this Seer, not matter that she seemed to be a true and good person. No, only for business reasons.

"I think you might be wrong," she said. "But I'll leave."

"I'm not wrong," he argued.

"You're hurt. It's not your eye, or the bruises, or the ripped uniform. It's not even losing the Princess's hand. It's a deeper hurt, a blind person could see it, a Seer can feel it... You need help to get past it, no one can get over a hurt that deep by themselves. I hope you let them help you, because they feel the hurt too, Keith."

"I don't really care what they feel," he muttered but he couldn't look her in the eye as he said it. It'd been easy to spout cruel words and act like Lance was nothing to him but a second and... well he couldn't pretend he thought Lance a King. But he couldn't lie to her... a practical stranger. He thought of her older in the future, how she'd talked to him then, like they were old and good friends. There had been intimacy in the way she spoke to him, at least here this Mira knew she was crossing lines, he feel it in her tone. She knew was but felt she had too. Her duty to Lance and Allura.

"You've performed your duties to your Queen and... him..." Keith said. "Please, leave me be, turn out the light."

"Leave you in the dark?" Mira asked, her voice showing her disagreement. "No."

He stared at her with his good eye. "Do I have neon sign over my head that says disobey my orders today?"

"I don't follow your orders. Also, I haven't stayed with you out of duty to Allura or _The True King_," her voice snapped and she emphasized every syllable of Lance's full title.

"He's no king."

"I don't know how you define it, but I know it to be true."

Keith shook his head.

"He scoffed too...it somehow created broken timelines, and uncertain futures. Three timelines that don't match up should never be able to meet; they should've been parallel universes. I don't know how Earth defines a King, but know his trial by fire with Coran proved the truth of the prophecies, and what I've seen all my life. He's King."

"Seen. I haven't seen it."

"Not yet."

Keith sighed. "I don't want to talk about Lance. Or the definition of Kings, or weird science-fiction. I just want to be."

"Alone in the dark, I know. I'll leave but you can turn the light off yourself."

Keith didn't answer her.

Mira stood there for another full minute, then she turned and left the dinning hall. Keith stood up, holding the steak to his face, and switched off the light. Then he was left standing there, blind, wondering how the hell to find his seat.


	82. Chapter 82

Notes: Sorry for the long wait; I have no good excuses.

Chapter Eighty-Two

Allura held the ice to Lance's jaw, tuning out Nanny in the background who had yet to stop lecturing on how the King and the Captain of the Voltron Force cannot be roughhousing in the Control Room of the Castle. Allura felt it went way past roughhousing it'd been a real fight, and that it was probably lucky the only bruise on Lance's face seemed to be blooming on his right jaw.

_That ear thing hurts, how does she do that, because really I think we might be able to take down the whole Drule Empire with that move alone._

Allura fought to not giggle, now was not a time to giggle, she couldn't believe he was joking with her. Though his words were funny, even the tone in his head but his eyes weren't sparkling their normal bright hazel-green. The amber didn't seem to be lit up like gold like it usually seemed to her when he was at his most mirthful - his most Lance.

_Come, on, Baby, you gotta agree with me. That hurts, Lotor would go down and beg for his life, he'd give everything up. We should take Nanny with us next time. Think we could secretly smuggle her into Yellow or Green, without the big guy or the kid noticing?_

Allura gave in and laughed, but she shook her head. "You're upset," she whispered into his ear, turning her head slightly to look at the still ranting woman in her bedroom.

"As the King and the future Queen of this planet, it is up to the two of you to have some Decorum. Allura I expect this from you - and you-you... You will learn, you will learn if I have to rap your knuckles with a ruler. Captain Kogane...ACH... Keith he should know better. Fighting in the Control room, roughhousing with the King! What is wrong with your Earthlings, did they not teach you anything about proper behavior..." and she was back again on points she'd covered a million times over.

_I think this True King thing has thrown her for a loop, she's never gone in circles quite this badly before,_ Allura said, turning back to him. _Talk to me about, Keith?_

Lance watched Nanny for a few minutes but Allura was certain he wasn't seeing Nanny at all. _He...he's Kogane-ing me._

_What?_

_Kogane-ing me. It's what people called it back at the Academy; say you don't really know Keith and you ran into him in a coffee shop. You say hi, he says hi, you mention the class you share. Keith gives you that look, that one you can't read that could say anything from: Oh yeah, right you're in the class too, or... I know what classes we share, what is your reason for talking for me? But you don't know which one it is... Does he recognize me, does he not.. he's still just staring. So what do you do, you say a few more things about the class, or the weather and walk off and you don't learn a thing about Keith. Or, become his friend._

Allura frowned.

_If I had run into him though, he would have asked why I was mentioning the class. Or, jumped to the right conclusion and said no I could not copy his homework. He never... he and I always... He never gave me that Keith Kogane man of mystery crap, Allura. You've never got it either, it's why your frowning right now. You've only seen him with us, you don't know..._

She sighed, _I've seen him with the public, I have a clue. He shuts down, goes blank, yet you want to know him, everyone is drawn to him, and trying to know what is there._

_He should be the damn king._

Allura pushed the ice she was holding harder against Lance's bruised jaw. _Ow, what is that for._

_Don't say that Lance._

Lance sighed. _I wish there was a way for Arus to have a Crown King without that man being Arusian Royalty who marries you... I'd name him it. I'd be the True King in the background, no one would notice me._

_Everyone would too notice you... People are just as drawn to you as Keith, just it's sort of more like bugs to a flame._

_Bugs? Baby, you're telling me I attract bugs?_

_Got me didn't you?_

_Allura, you're no bug_, Lance whispered in her head, giving her that look he did right before he usually told her she was too beautiful, or too good for him. She didn't give him the chance.

_Can't stay away from and your craziness though. You make me smile and never treat me like the Crown Princess. So you'll be my Prince-Consort and the King, though...Just going with King seems easier and you've changed the subject._

Lance gave her a wry grin but there was no muster in it for it to reach the right level of sarcasm to count as even trying. "I don't know how to fix our mistakes, Allura. I don't think Keith is the only one who is angry, in fact I'd doubt it."

Allura nodded. "We never should've lied when we came back...I couldn't imagine telling anyone anything."

"I know."

"You agreed with me."

"I know."

"I had to find out I didn't love Keith the hard way, how else could I give myself to you completely?" Allura asked, but then her face fell. "Not that I knew that then... Oh this is complicated."

"I need to know how mad, Hunk, Pidge and Sven and Romelle are. Especially Sven, we asked him to lie for us, without telling him the whole story more than once. He and Romelle, they witnessed so much but never knew the whole picture. This is...

"You two aren't even listening to me!" Nanny yelled. "Pfft. Ugh, I am going to go bake bread..." she stormed out of the room.

Lance watched her go, eyebrow raised. "Bread?"

"It helps her calm down, she does it from scratch, I think it's the beating up the dough to be honest..."

"Great, Nanny's going to the kitchen to imagine my face in bread dough," Lance chuckled. "I've defiled her Princess and beat up the Captain... or he beat me up...neither one of us were winning."

Alllura lowered the melting bag of ice and kissed his jaw gently. "I wish I knew what we do next."

"Me too, baby, me too," he whispered his mouth falling to her lips. Allura blushed hearing the sound she made in the back of her throat at the kiss. She'd been aching because of him all day and yet she was aching for him too, more now she'd been given a taste. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist and not let him out of her arms forever. She pushed her tongue into his mouth, against his own, to the roof of his mouth, trying to show him how much she needed him - more and more needy sounds rushing out of her.

Lance's hands were on her hips, fingers pressing into her skin as he kissed her jaw, her throat, licking back up to her mouth and inside of it. His body bowed into her, pushing onto her and onto her until Allura found herself on her back, her legs wrapped around his waist arching into him, her hands and his tangling they both tried to undo the others the pants.

Then Lance screamed.

Nanny had his ear.

Allura jumped pulling the fabric of her top back down over her bra, her own ear throbbing in sympathy. As she watched Nanny pull Lance by the ear off the couch. "Nanny, please," Allura yelled.

Nanny got Lance to his feet, let go of his ear and then pointed to the door. Lance started to open his mouth. "Ach!" Nanny yelled, her finger pointing more fervently at Allura's door. "Out. Out. Out."

Lance rubbed at his ear, glanced at Allura. _Tonight_?

Allura nodded blushing, as she quickly straightened out the rest of her own clothing. Also she was doing her best not to look at the band of skin that was revealed of Lance's stomach, and then his backside as he turned around making his way out of the room, busily adjusting his pants first. Her eyes fell to his butt and she sighed as he disappeared.

Nanny made a noise like a cat dying on a hairball, she turned to face her, knowing she must be beet red. It was embarrassing to be caught because it always caught her off guard how beautiful, wanted and needed Lance made her feel. How loved, how he looked at her, how he touched her, she felt she'd found something she'd always been looking for and it did scare her. The depth of how much she felt surprised her. She didn't feel near as beautiful or as amazing as his thoughts, heart, hands and mouth made her feel, how his actions and words said. In some ways she was understanding more and more why he called himself unworthy of her so often, she felt it too, because how could she ever love enough to show him how worthy he really was when he made her feel like a woman and nothing more.

"Princess!" Nanny shrieked.

Allura jumped in her skin, the reminder of who she was being shouted probably not for the first time. Nanny's brown eyes were blazing with frustration and possibly disappointment. Allura felt shamed immediately, yet she couldn't be sorry for it, she loved Lance, she wanted him, there wasn't anything wrong with it.

"Nanny, we were alone."

"Tsk. A Princess is never alone. You have your maids, your assistants, me, you have business walking in and out of here all day. Not to mention your other duties in regards to Voltron Force. You are not just a young woman in the throes of your first love, Princess Allura. You are Princess Allura of Arus, The Crown Queen of this planet. And you must remember yourself. I will not stop him from coming into your room at night, as long as you two remember to separate before the sunrises...Lord help us all. But right now you and I are going to Dr. Gorma, and you are discussing the PROPRIETY that will be happening in your relationship with the King during the hours this Castle is bustling with life. Do you understand?"

Allura nodded, blushing at the thought of going to Dr. Gorma. She was going to have to tell him she had sex she realized. She felt her face flame.

"It is good to know you have shame and pride. That you feel the truth that such intimacy, should be INTIMATE. I am also happy to hear not one argument from you yet, Allura."

Allura nodded.

"Come then, let's you get on birth control because I will not have that Boy King impregnate you before the wedding. We have enough damage control as it is with you being courted by one member of the Voltron Force and then falling for the other..." Nanny trails off and studies her as they start to walk.

They are half way to Gorma's, Allura trying her best to not look mortified at what is to come when Nanny stops them short and pulls them into a small little wash room in the main hallway. "Allura? I think I know the answer to the question but I still must ask it."

Allura nods waiting.

"This time you are sure, you love Lance. Commander McClain and our True King is the one? I must ask you this, Allura because I watched you play fantasy fairy tale in your head for years over Captain Kogane, I watched you being courted by him and not finding your happiness. I see my Princess happy but I want to hear it from you, you know this is love?"

"Yes," Allura said, her voice coming out a cracked whisper, her eyes filling with tears at the emotion of everything. It all coming to bear in that one moment for her. How silly she'd been, how she fought the knowledge but kept running to the man that is Lance, the one who listens, the one who sees her, the one she loved and told she loved before she ever heard herself think the words. "I love him, I've loved him longer than I even knew, I love Lance. He... He sees me, and I need that Nanny. He understands what this planet is to me. He knows why I fight...he understands and for the longest time I thought only Keith did...But more than that he gets how Arus, this war, losing Mother and Father has shaped me but how my title and all of that isn't all I am."

"Hmph. I know why you fight, I will never like it. I see this...but he hurts you I will hit him where the sun does not shine with my rolling pin. The marble one."

Allura smiled and hugged her. "Nanny, I love you."

"Ach, I love you too, my Princess. Still there will be rules and decorum. I will not walk in on your two about to make love where anyone else could walk in and see...Not even after you are married, you understand me, young lady?"

"Yes. Okay, let's go time for you to be checked out by Gorma and put on a birth control, he's waiting and we should not keep him waiting longer..." Nanny pulled her out of the tiny washroom and back on the path to the medical bay. Allura wondered where Lance is now, but she doesn't dare reach out to him to find out, she'd have to mention Gorma and Birth control...her blush deepens. She'll wait until they can be alone, she thought following Nanny.


	83. Chapter 83

_Notes:_ Thank to AquaLion for save on the Hunk scene.

Chapter Eighty-Three

Lance found Sven in the recreation room reading a book, when he walked in Sven looked up from the book his grey eyes dark his expression unreadable. Lance shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, stood in the middle of the room and held the gaze.

Sven went back to his book, it felt like ten minutes to Lance before Sven marked the page with a bookmark, closed the book, put it on the cushion of the couch next to him and met Lance's gaze again.

"Ja?"

Ja. Lance cringed, Sven didn't break out the Norwegian unless he was exhausted, pissed off or in love with you. Lance knew Sven wasn't in love with him.

"Yeah, uh?" Lance stammered, thinking great start to this conversation. He walked over to the couch and sat down on the coffee table in front of it. Facing Sven. "Do you want to ask questions? Or do want me to ramble?" Lance asked.

Sven true to his nature was quiet again for a long while. Then he shook his head. "When she showed up in Blue, claiming she had to be with us, whispering to you, talking about a prophecy. You knew it was something she learned in the future. You knew there was more to it than she was telling me and Romelle. You understood a lot more than we did, it's why you caved into her so easily isn't it?"

Lance nodded.

"Keith, Keith was on and on from the second I showed up about how you and her were so close, so friendly, had your own language. Talked without words and how did that happen so quickly. I thought maybe he was imagining it. But there were signs, I saw a lot that said maybe he isn't. I knew he wasn't that morning in Blue. But I never understood why you just let her stay. You barely argued, it wasn't like you, I knew you had to be keeping something from me."

"Yeah," Lance said, shaking his head.

"How much did Allura know?" Sven asked.

"About what would happen on that moon?" Lance asked.

"Ja."

Lance sighed. "That I'd fall, and that we'd kiss in the cave, the prophecy was clear that in her seeing it before hand she'd know how to find me the fastest and I'd be hurt."

"It wasn't on the paper she had with her."

"The real one was left in the future, what you had was her memories."

"So, she lied about it turning to dust in her hands."

"Small lie that, considering all the rest don't you think Sven?" Lance said, feeling defensive for Allura.

Sven stood up, walked over to the large window that looked out over the lake. "I am trying to understand. Romelle keeps trying to press upon me that Allura was trying to change the future, that she was running from what she learned. And you must have been trying to protect her... Is that true?"

Lance nodded before he realized Sven couldn't see him. He cleared his throat and walked over to the window too, looking out at a part of the lake, the forest. "I was running from the future too, Sven. I mean, King Lance? Everytime Nanny says it a part of me wants to laugh at the huge joke, but the half of me that's accepted it, that wants it now...tells that part to shove it. But still... I'm not King material. I feel like a fool in fancy clothes, I don't wear them with the grace you and Keith can pull off. I don't know how to be politically correct, or tactful. I mean I'm going cause Allura more problems than good... But I can't live without her or Arus. I...just kind. I found a home here, I mean I had a good childhood. I did. But Nebraska, Earth, it felt too small. Which," Lance laughed. "Arus is smaller but it feels bigger to me and right now I feel it living, the planet living. And if I wanted too I could find out where Allura is right now, but I think she's with Nanny, so I don't want too."

Sven chuckled. "The King thing... it will take some getting used too. You talking to a planet more so. Is it like the Lions?"

"No. It's different. She doesn't have a voice, I think our Lions might be her voice. The different elements, all together are Arus."

"So you were running from being a King, and Allura from marrying you. And here we are with you two in love and you having embraced Kinghood."

"Yeah. Can't run from something that is, I guess."

"I'm not sure I like the idea that destiny is fixed."

"Screw destiny. I didn't fall for Allura because it was destined Sven. I didn't choose Arus as my home and my planet because of it either. Mira said something about me not embracing my role being the reasons the timelines went all loopy. It was about choice. Hell, Allura going to the moon was about choice. I think Arus, or whatever did something to push us in the right direction - maybe, it hurts my head to think about it - but she and I made our choices."

"Her and the moon was choice?"

"The prophecy. It was one that based on her knowing it before it happened. She had the choice to follow it as it was, or make a different call. She could have stayed with your and Romelle, called in Keith and the others. Found me with all of you faster. She didn't see this until after, her instincts just told her to follow me. She told me it was her choosing me before she knew she was..." Lance shrugged.

Sven nodded. "Keith is hurt. He feels betrayed. I feel as if I added to it. I kept your and Allura from him. I saw you two on that moon, that whole time. Before that odd bomb that witch Anna set off."

Lance sighed. "I know, Sven, I'm sorry."

Sven sighed. "Keith's own trip through time, it has seemed to only make him angrier."

"I noticed," his hand unconsciously went to his cheek.

"Aye, I saw that...how does he look?"

"Black eye. We both have very sore ears."

Sven chuckled. "I heard about Nanny."

"Never let her do that. I told Allura, we should Nanny do that Lotor, stop the war short just like that..." snaps his fingers.

"If only that could be so easy."

"Yeah...I think facing him would be easier than Keith right now."

"Ja, Ja, you have an uphill climb."

"Sven?"

"I do not know. You had me covering for you, I was trying to see both sides of everything, trying to see that you and Allura had just grown closer. After all I wasn't here. Though it was strange how close, Pidge and Hunk were even baffled. If you baffle Hunk..." Sven sighed.

Lance sighed.

"I don't like feeling caught between my two brødre."

Though his hands were already in his jacket he shoved them in deeper nonetheless. "I don't know how to apologize for this...I can't...I can't regret how Allura handled it even if we royally fucked it up. We...it was having our entire world view tilted. I mean hell I was in bed with Lara the night we went to the future, doing my damn single life, I don't want to fall in love and have a family bullshit."

Sven laughed.

"Why didn't you guys tell me I was lying to myself?"

"Where is the fun in that?" Sven laughed

"Allura? Allura was crying everyday, everyday we were in the future, she'd have at least one breakdown about how she was going to marry Keith, Keith was her future. She had it all planned out in her heart. She wasn't going to let that go because people who looked liked US were saying we'd been together. It didn't matter how many pictures and paintings of us were around - it was creepy, Sven. Made my shudder at first, then I'd stare at the me in them thinking... I've never looked that happy, have I? And people kept calling me Your Majesty and King?" Lance shook his head.

"Better get used to that."

"Nanny's giving me no choice. Even when I flashed her," Lance laughed.

"What?"

"Accidentally flashed Nanny the Lance goods, forgot I was naked in the 'oh crap, Nanny knows I slept with Allura moment'."

Sven eyes widened. "You and Allura have..."

Lance nodded. "Did you think we wait?"

Sven turned his head, looked out the window. "After that wall-slamming, pornographic kiss I saw, no. I was hoping maybe you might for Keith's sake."

"I won't walk on eggshells for Keith. We can't do that, hell part of doing that is what got us in trouble with him. We should have told him, after the bomb... I just thought..."

"I shouldn't have agreed with you. We were both wrong."

"He'll forgive you." Lance turned and walked the length of the room and sat down in a chair.

Sven turned from the window watched him.

Lance shrugged. "About you and me?"

"I forgive you, it will take me awhile to forget enough to show it fully."

Lance nodded. "Allura?"

"I will endeavor to show my forgiveness more with Allura," Sven replied walking back over to his book. "Romelle and I need to leave soon as it is, to attend to our wedding details. It will be needed space for me, I think."

Lance frowned but he knew it was the best he could hope for. "Sven, I..."

"Apology has been accepted, Lance. Shh." Sven said but there was a bit of a twinkle in his eyes.

"Any advice on Fearless Leader?"

Sven picked up his book, but leveled a hard cold stare at Lance. "You are on your own there."

"Thanks, bro, thanks a lot!"

"Du er velkommen."

~~.~~

Lance wandered the Castle after talking to Sven running the conversation with Sven over in his head. He thought it went well, he wasn't sure... maybe it was because he knew he and Keith were still at odds. Nothing was going to feel right until he had straightened them out.

He decided to start looking for Hunk, about half way through his wandering, he checked the hangar decks, Hunk's room, he went to control and looked at the sensor grid to see if a person was wandering the scrap heap that Hunk called Hunkyard. Finally, Lance found Hunk in the kitchen making a sandwich.

He cleared his throat to get Hunk's attention off the food. His own brow rising, as Hunk added bacon to the turkey, tomato, avocado, cheddar and some kind of sauce rather than mustard, or mayonnaise. His mouth started to water as his friend place the toasted artisan bread from the baker in the main village, who made the most mouth watering bread in the universe.

Hunk grinned as he turned around and saw him. "Shall I make you one? It is a sandwich fit for a King," he grinned at his joke.

Lance rolled his eyes, but hey if he's going to be called king that was one way he could handle it. "Uh, no, no. I tracked you down to talk not to eat."

Hunk gave him a look, cut his sandwich into fourths, plated two pieces onto another plate and then found some chips. He set a plate on one side of the table and kept his as he sat down across from the plate setting. "You can always do both. Won't tell Nanny if you talk with your mouth open."

Lance's hand unconsciously shot up to his ear at the mention of Nanny, he sighed as he sat down and picked up the sandwich taking a bite. He chewed as he tried to figure out how to phrase his question. "So, uh, damn this hard..." Why as it so hard to apologize to his friends? Was it because he didn't regret his choices even he regretted the hurt they caused?

"Am I mad?"

Lance laughed with relief at the question and gave Hunk a thankful look across the table. Hunk was grinning, and shaking his head. "Look man, that was one crazy situation and maybe after all the dominoes fell down a better way to deal with it makes perfect sense. You know using all the logic and common sense in the world. But hell, Allura loved Keith back then, you were told you were the King! I mean hell, no wonder you two didn't want to say anything. I know if I went to a future and was told I was King of Arus, I don't think I'd be shouting it either when I got back."

Lance eyes widened. He knew Hunk wasn't stupid but now and again how damn insightful the man was smack Lance right in the head harder than two-by-four. "Yeah..that...was it. How do you that?"

Biting into his sandwich Hunk shrugged.

Lance laughed. "Hunk, man you would make more sense as King than me. Though, I'm liking the gig a bit now that I've accepted it. When Graham was here... I had this moment when it hit me. When we when this war, I'd...I'd have to leave Arus. Allura was dating Keith, I was fooling myself with Lara...and I. Man the idea of leaving this planet?" Lance shook his head. "I mean I didn't want to leave Allura either, but it wasn't that at the time, I was in way too much denial. It was Arus, I feel at home here, more than I ever felt back on Earth. I just wanted to get into space, you know? Now...here. I wanna fly, sure. But I like the ground too."

"Yeah, noticed you got restless after awhile here, thought maybe it was you mellowing out, Dude. Didn't know you were falling in love with the planet."

Lance smirked. "She's in my head...Arus...it's. I can feel her moving, things growing, the connection to the Lions. It's crazy and I don't know half of what it means and it freaks me the fuck out...but I love it."

Hunk chuckled a bit, then grew serious. "Not sure I could handle a planet in my head. Yellow is enough at times besides my own brain thunking about in here." Tapped his forehead.

Lance nodded, guilt rushing back up as he realized he was talking to Hunk about things without really dealing with the issue. "You really aren't mad at us?"

Hunk shook his head. "Nah. I mean I get it. I thought it through. I mean you two should have handled Keith better. But then again a lot was happening all at once, the bomb, that witch woman with Coran, that pretty little maid turning out to be your daughter from the future. You and Allura knew who she was didn't you? Why you were so protective?"

He nodded. "We knew we had a daughter named Liona. We knew someone with red hair and two flaming swords was showing up. Just not that it'd be her..." He smiled, thinking about Liona. "She was something huh?"

Hunk grinned. "I liked her. Look, Lance, it was hard to figure how you and Allura were so close so all of a sudden. And then after a bit, it did seem to me as if she was choosing you over him a lot. Which was weird, you know...after her crushing on Keith for so long and her dating him. I didn't really start to wonder about you and her until right before the Ball, it was the way you kept looking at her, the way she kept running to you after a fight with Nanny, Coran or Keith."

Lance sighed. "It's hard not to fall in love with Allura, Hunk, it really is..." he thought, thinking about her and grinning like a loon.

Hunk chuckled. "Seems like a sister to me man, you'd have to bring that up with someone else."

Lance laughed.

"That said. You hurt Allura, I'll sledgehammer you into Arus's earth, you being her True King and all I'm sure you'll get along fine in there." Hunk grinned.

"I hurt her Hunk, you have my permission to do worse."

Hunk shook his head. "Nah, brotherly threat not withstanding, you won't. I know you, heart as big as Denubian."

"I think that's you, but thanks for the faith, man. So, uh, Pidge?"

"Well, he's uh, having more issues with the fact he was crushing on your daughter than being angry with you," Hunk said with a wry chuckle. "However, he is unsure how handle you of all people betraying Keith's trust."

Lance nodded. "Yeah, me too, me too."


	84. Chapter 84

Chapter Eighty-four

"Pidge?" Lance said for the second time.

Pidge continued to work with a small laser on, on a small circuit he was holding between his thumb and forefinger with his right hand, holding the laser with his left, his tongue poking out like it did when he was focused.

"Pidge," Lance said again.

Pidge didn't blink and continued to work on his project. Lance shook his head, sat down on a stool and glanced at the metal parts and circuit boards all around. He had a passing knowledge, he had more than a passing knowledge really - had too for the job, but he couldn't figure out what Pidge was working on. Of course there were no notes or anything around, the teenager probably had them all in his head.

The laser switched off, so Lance used that moment to say Pidge a fourth time. "Pidge," he said.

Pidge jumped in his seat, almost dropped what he was holding, blanched white and turned to face him. He stared at Lance, schooled his featured to look nonchalant and unperturbed at the fact Lance was sitting right next to him. "Yeah?" he said.

Lance held back the snicker he felt in his throat, Pidge hated being snuck up on, ninjas were supposed to be always aware of their surroundings.

"What are you working on there, Squirt?"

"Well, Your Kingliness, I'm trying to invent a Voltcom, they looked like a very handy weapon for the team to have. They served Fleu..er," he coughed. "Liona, well." Pidge blushed a bit and started up with the laser again.

Lance sighed, he hadn't really wanted to have this talk with Pidge, but he supposed he had too. His daughter, his teammate. He swallowed, confused himself on how the hell.. it was...it was weird.

Lance sighed, looking at the blushing Pidge, thinking time travel just made things way too messy. He hoped Arus never felt a need to spin the lines of time all around again.

How he himself felt about Liona confused him. He felt his heart lurch into his throat with intense feelings of love at the mere thought she was his daughter. He loved her because of who she was too him and even more so who she was to Allura, her daughter, Allura's daughter by him. But then he'd watched her fight. He'd listened to how she spoke and watched what she didn't say. It was both action and both her blood being his own... And Allura's. She was theirs. His. But she was Liona too...

It was strange to love someone on sight, to know who she was without her knowing he knew...he sighed. He missed her, he kept reminding himself he'd see her soon enough, he'd watch her grow up, see her being shaped into the young woman he saw stand up for the life of her family and even her whole planet...

Arus hummed in his brain and under his feet. He could feel it in the granite of the floor he was standing on. It was Arusian stone, from Arusian earth. It had a distinct hum...and Liona had a distinct lilt McClain but also so much Allura within her...Her voltcom however was Fire, but there was something about her swords that said honor, leader, Hero. Black.

"Speaking of her weapons, they were connected to Red Lion and her, I think, she mentioned how the technology was Voltron related. She said you were the inventor," Lance smiled.

Pidge nodded. "I don't want to sound arrogant, but who else?"

Lance shrugged. "Hunk?"

"He could do it, of course, but I'm more likely to spend my freetime on it. Until it becomes an order. Do you want make it a royal one?"

"Hell no," Lance laughed. "Ask Keith."

Pidge frowned.

Lance sighed again, and decided to bring up the Liona thing because hey, that was complicated, weird and awkward but it didn't break his heart as much as betraying his best friend and having Keith hating him at the moment.

"So, Liona?" Lance asked in a leading tone.

Pidge turned off the laser and set down the circuit. "I don't want to discuss this. It's embarrassing and she didn't even like me back...I guess cause she thought of me as OLD or something."

Lance laughed. "She thought of you as Uncle Pidge, she actually talked about you with a lot of admiration, had that Uncle Pidge is the cool underlying thing to it."

Pidge cocked his head and gave him a long blank stare. This was never a good sign, Lance forced himself not to show his fear, if you showed fear to a ninja they would bite... wait, maybe that was a rabid dog? Same difference right?

"How is that supposed to make me feel better. So the whole time I was trying to figure out how to flirt correctly, which I don't think I can do to be honest...she was thinking, _This is completely incestuous_."

Lance sighed. "Pidge, come on. Don't be so hard on yourself. She was beautiful, like her mother," Lance grinned like a goofball picturing Allura all naked running around his room looking for her clothes this morning. "Really, really, beautiful..."

"You better have stopped thinking about your daughter."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, went down the Allura is naked path there...what were we...right. Look, you don't get to leave the Castle much, or meet anyone you own age, no one else around here is even close to your age except Allura..."

"Talking about incestuous...and Oh God, she was you and her daughter..." Pidge's head hit his workbench.

"Hey, hey, don't hurt your head, we need the brain inside of it." Lance patted him on the back. "It would have frankly been weird if you didn't have a crush on a hot new sixteen year old maid, Pidge. Way more weird than you having a crush on her in the all scheme of things," Lance said and as he said it he realized it was true.

Pidge looked up, eyes wide behind his glasses. "How do you figure?"

"Beautiful red head girl, you a hot-blooded Baltan of sixteen years of age. Do the math, I hear you are good at it, subtract all the time travel crap and the facts of her birth. Go with what you knew before all that...If you hadn't crushed on her, now _that_ would have been cause for worry.

Pidge cocked his head to the side, staring at him for a long while then he snorts. "You might have a point."

Lance shook his head. "Pidge?"

"Yeah," Pidge sounded distracted, Lance realized he might lose him to the Voltcom again if he didn't say something soon. No more avoidance.

"Me and Keith?" he asked.

Pidge turned off the laser, with a small frustrated sigh. Lance realized Pidge wanted nothing more than to just invent the Voltcom, made him grin as he waited for his friend to answer his question.

"I don't understand your and Allura's thinking process," Pidge said.

"About not saying anything from moment one?"

"Yes. It would have helped immensely. All the times we were staring at the two of you like you were a four-headed beast would have been explained. Both the times you were circumnavigating enough of the truth to stop some tragedy you knew about from becoming one, and the increased closeness of your friendship over such a short period time. Though, Hunk still argues that sometimes that just happens between people. He called it a light clicking on moment?" Pidge frowned.

Lance grinned. "Yeah the light clicked on all right."

"Don't make me kill you," Pidge deadpanned, he then adjusted his glasses a nervous habit of his. Lance waited it out. "I don't like it when you and Keith aren't getting along. The whole Castle always feels tense, and nothing feels like it's going to go right. It makes everything feel uncomfortable. And usually when you two are fighting, Allura can bridge the gap between you guys but this time he's angry with her too, maybe even more so... I mean they were in a courtship."

Lance nodded, hating the reminder. "I get that. I know it's...it's not good we're not getting along, Pidge. At all..." he trailed off Tarus' warnings on his mind.

"I find it creates a very displeasing environment." His eyes darted to his Voltcom workings as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Squirt, but I'm working on it, I promise," Lance said with a half-grin. "Are you mad at us? Me, Allura?"

Pidge shrugged. "Like I said, confused by your choices. Telling us before hand may have stopped a lot of the issues. Lying didn't help anything? Maybe Allura wouldn't have dated Keith and then hurt him?"

Lance shook his head. "Us saying anything or not, Allura would have asked permission for Keith to court her. Trust me, it was something she would never have backed down on. Not sure the emotional entanglements were something we could avoid..." Lance sighed. "Might not be as messy, but might just as messy in a different way."

Pidge frowned. "Because he loved her and she thought she loved him but loves you?"

"He wasn't in love with her." Lance felt the need to share. "I mean, Keith loves Allura, deeply but he's not in love with her, Pidge. His anger isn't about not being the guy she picked...this isn't one of those crappy soap opera's that Keith watches and won't too."

Pidge huffed out a wry chuckle. "He has crappy taste in tv and music. His books are good though."

"Yeah.." Lance frowned, thinking he would really miss ribbing Keith about his failings, the few and far between.

"Why did you lie?" Pidge asked, finally.

"Emotional reasons," Lance said with a shrug. "While we loved parts of the future we saw, actually we both LOVED most of the future we saw Pidge. It was beautiful, Pidge. The main village near the Castle, it was a city Pidge but not an ugly over built one. Beautiful buildings, the whole planet was thriving in a way I never dared imagined it could again after what Zarkon had done here."

"Sounds nice."

"It was...it was. But they kept calling me King, and talking about how amazing I was at it. I felt like they were talking about some other dude named Lance. Like I don't know Sir Lancelot... And Allura, Allura kept crying every time she turned a corner and there was another picture of her and me the happy couple... Our ancestors who held rule, they looked up to us, we were all over the Castle like King Alfor's image is here now."

"Sounds like it would have felt like a dream."

"A trippy, bizarre, dream and that is how we felt.. Allura hid in the prophecy archive room, she was drawn to them...she has this intuition about them, reading them. She kept finding things about us, and hating it but she couldn't stop going there... I tried to just hang out with the kid who'd be leading the Voltron Force but he looked like me, genetics are weird man... And he was a lot like me...and I found myself searching my old room, for things about the kids in all those picture. Watched all these home movies...really shouldn't have. Suddenly all my damn talk about not being the marrying kind, not wanting kids, Pidge... damn. Talk about lies."

"But you didn't go after, Allura. Right away, or at all, I'm fuzzy on how you two got together."

"I'm fuzzy on a bits of that too, had that fever in the cave when I made all my first moves..." Shook his head. "No, I didn't. I.. she wanted Keith for one thing, and Allura? I wasn't good enough for her. Not really good enough for a great lady like Lara either, but Lara was more my speed at the time anyway - or what I was telling myself. Plus deep down, I knew she wasn't who I wanted, and I knew she'd never say yes to full commitment to me."

Pidge just gave him a funny look.

"Allura, she loved Keith. She'll always love Keith. She saw him as her hero, that knight in shining armor from fairy tales. It was a dream she had and she knew she could it because Keith... Keith was into the idea, we all know that..." Lance sighed, thinking about conversations he'd had with Keith about Allura. About how great she was, how Keith thought she'd grow to be a wonderful strong woman, leader for her people. If he could how he would stand by her side... Never was much about loving her, Lance always thought Keith wasn't admitting that part aloud. Maybe it was more, cause now he saw so clearly that Keith had wanted to love Allura, like he'd tried to want to fall for Lara.

"I'll talk to Hunk."

Lance laughed. "Okay, we good?"

Pidge shrugged. "Just get Keith un-mad with you and Allura soon. Or I might have to kill all three of you..." he muttered going back to work on inventing the Voltcom.

Standing Lance was about to leave when a urge had him turning around and ruffling up Pidge's hair.

"Hey!" Pidge slapped at his hand.

"See you around, Squirt."

"I refuse to bow to you, King Lance."

"Yeah, yeah," Lance laughed leaving the workroom.

~~.~~

Allura found Romelle in the control room talking to someone on one the communication consoles. She walked up and quietly sat down and was dismayed to overhear plans for Sven and Romelle's trip back home - the next morning. Romelle finished up the message and said goodbye to her assistant and turned to Allura with a sad smile.

"We have to return to Pollux, I'm sorry. I know it's a tense time but I have done all I can do for the wedding from here."

Allura nodded, wiping an unexpected tear from her cheek. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so selfish, all I've been is selfish."

"Allura, you one of the least selfish people I know," Romelle said.

Allura nodded and took Romelle's hand. "Let's walk, I really don't want to talk in here," her eyes falling on Keith's office door.

"He's not there, Sven knocked and went in to check. He's looking for him to tell him about us leaving."

Allura nodded. "I don't want to avoid him, but it feels like the only thing to do for now."

Romelle sighed. "It's quite a quandary you have gotten yourself into... Both Sven and I thought you were right to keep the news of you and Lance from him before the Ball. With all the unknown factors going on...though," Romelle pinned Allura with her dark blue gaze.

Allura pulled her cousin with her into an atrium, walked them toward a bench and sat down. "We didn't know anymore than anyone else... only the possibility it was from the future...but we couldn't prove it. And we hadn't told you guys anything and that conversation. There was so much going on, the timing..." Allura laughed an unamused laugh.

Romelle squeezed Allura's hand. "It explains why you came with us to the moon. You hadn't found that prophecy in your father's tomb, you and Lance didn't have this sudden closeness... it happened over months alone in a strange future."

Allura nodded. "It wasn't that strange...well it was. But Arus was at peace - had been for years, it was going to end soon..." Allura frowned. "But now maybe that war won't happen, I don't know. The comet will be easily dealt with, I don't think that timeline will lose the abilty to use Voltron, the lions. If it happens at all the same..." she shook her head.

"But Lance was your only lifeline to home."

"And Keith," Allura rolled her eyes. "Romelle, I ranted, I screamed, I had sullen days of total silence. I must have driven him insane with my moods and they were all centered on the fact this future kept telling me I didn't marry Keith. It never really processed to me it was Lance, not really, expect it seemed so unlikely...but I kept running to him and he kept listening... Why he put it up with it?"

"He loves you."

Allura nodded. "I love him too. He'd go on a rant about the King thing now and again... I usually tell him to stop it though cause he was so hard on himself... He had no idea how amazing he is."

Romelle smiled. "Well, Allura, you do have to admit, Lance as a king is a strange idea to wrap your mind around?"

Allura stared at Romelle blankly. "Is it? He says that, everyone keeps having that reaction. I never did... my only thought was so what if it's the real king, I can still marry Keith. I never doubted Lance could be the man they said he was... He's Lance...it seemed right to me. What they said he had done, what he could do... none of it sounded far-fetched, or weird to me."

"Must be because you love him."

"Long before I knew it..." Allura sighed. "Wasted so much time and have hurt Keith so much..."

Romelle hugged her. Allura hugged back, drinking in the scent of Romelle's hair, the soft curves, it bringing back a familiar feeling of the sense memory of her mother hugging her much the same way.

"I'll miss you."

"You'll come to the wedding? I'm hoping you and Lance can stand up with us?"

Allura smiled. "I'd love that...Does this mean Sven isn't mad at Lance. He's worried."

Romelle made a noise. "Sven is mad yes, but he's forgiving Lance in his own way in his own time... Sven has his ways. He's mad at himself as well for our own mistake in keeping your secret. Well, the one we knew."

"I'm sorry about that, about all of it..."

"Allura, no matter when you came forward about the future, you were going to think you belonged with Keith and find yourself with Lance..."

With Lance, Allura blushed thinking about being with him last night. His hands, his mouth, his tongue, she felt heat flaming her cheeks. "Yes, I belong with Lance."

Romelle peered at her for awhile, then put a hand on Allura's cheek. "You're not quite as a hot as you look, you're cheeks are so red, don't think what you're thinking around Nanny, she'll think you two have had sex."

"She knows we did," Allura admitted, glancing around to make sure they were alone.

"What!"

Allura grinned. "I couldn't wait for him, and don't you give me a lecture, Miss Knocked Up before her Wedding!"

Romelle blushed, a large smile on her face as she felt her stomach. "Touché."

"It was...I never...I can't stop thinking about it and I just want do it again as soon as possible. But Nanny..."

"She won't let him near you."

"No. She just has rules about making sure minimum people know and that I remain a publicly known virgin before the wedding... I hope she doesn't push a date on him. I don't think he's ready for the engagement even if he knows we're forever."

"How did she find out?"

Blushing Allura started to giggle Nanny's face when she saw Lance naked flashing in her memory. "We were in Lance's room, she came to get me, we slept up to his alarm. I was running around his room naked trying to get dressed but with the way he was looking at me..." Allura paused remembering. "I really wanted to take off the clothes I'd managed to put on. Then the door chimed. He," Allura stopped falling into a giggle fit. "He, he, he said Allura who into his intercom."

Romelle laughed.

"Then she surprised us both by saying she knew what we'd done, and that there had to be proper rules and decorum about it, so she could keep it from the maids who gossip. Anyway, he opened the door for me and I went out and Nanny looked at him all stark naked... Her face, I've seen her eyes go wide, everyone has but they went WIDE! Then she starts yelling, and saying he'll be the death of her. Then we were making out in my room and she grabbed him by the ear, same one she grabbed him by to stop the fight..."

Allura's face fell thinking about the fight with Keith.

"Sven told me about the fight.. he said Lance had quite a bruise."

"Yes. Lance says he gave Keith a black eye, I don't know how to make this up to Keith. I can only say I never meant to hurt him so many times."

Romelle nodded. "Give him space, don't give up on him...you know he's worth that."

Allura nodded. "He's still my Hero, Romelle. I love him, my feelings haven't changed, not really, I just understand them on a different level now."

"He and Keith have been friends far too long to stop now. Sven believes he will forgive you more easily than Lance, because of how he does love you. Sven did say though, he may have read Keith's feelings for you wrong."

"Like I did, like so many others... He wanted to love me Romelle. I think back to all our fights and discussions. He wanted to be in love with me and he loves me, I know he does. He's so hurt..."

Romelle hugged her again. "It will work out, Allura. Those boys are family and you're part of that...it will all work out."

"It better, because all this timeline stuff was to make things better...at least that is what Lance, and the seers are saying. I feel it too. If the three of us don't..."

_Allura meet me in control, now!_

"Allura?"

Allura pulled out of the hug and held up her hand to Romelle.

_ Lance what's wrong?_ Her heart thudding, he sounded panicked.

_Arus just told me there was a cave-in, instinct is telling me it was near the area where the Underground City is, or is the... meet me there._

Allura paled. "Find Sven please, we might need him to help with Lance and Keith...the control room," then she ran off feeling guilty for not telling Romelle more but she had no facts.


	85. Chapter 85

_**Notes:**_ So 1 year ago today I posted the first chapter of thing. I did want to try finish it before this day occurred, but since I didn't. Thank you to all of you still reading this thing a year later :D

ETA: Thank you to Aqua Lion for looking at this chapter.

Chapter Eighty-five

Lance's head hurt.

Earth broke by grinding together where it shouldn't causing it to shatter, to fall and crash onto itself and onto Arus' citizens. Lance felt it, heard the crash and rumble of the grinding and rock slide in his head, loud, jolting and terrifying.

It happened within the caves of the Underground and a split second later it was in Lance's head. The shattering of mountain, the fault lines of earth grinding against each other. The knowledge this was happening where there was people - his people - _Allura's people._

Lance called out to her, instinct taking over and for those short seconds he felt in control of the situation. Now alone in the control room waiting for the others to respond to the alarm - where were they, it felt like ages since he'd hit the switch, rationally he knew it'd been seconds, maybe a minute. - he felt upended. He was trying to be rational, to do his job. To go at this as he was trained to handled it as a soldier. He scanned the area, he found small earthquake on the screens that had caused the damage he felt.

It looked puny on the screen. It felt huge in his mind.

The people. He had to get out there and help them. The planet was screaming it at him. The rocks that were under Arus' citizen's feet were telling him _these people need you...**now**, no time to waste, you are the KING, go, go, go!_

This link to Arus, this ability it hurt. It overwhelmed him and he was thinking he'd never sense of it. No he had to take for what it was. Lance forced himself to breathe. Right now he had no time to think this through, adapt and move because if he didn't his people would die. Arus' people would die and he'd let Allura down and neither of those things were an option.

Footsteps behind him, less than a minute and half after calling for Allura, and hitting the alarm. Allura's hand on his shoulder her soft gasp as she saw on the screen what had happened. The unison of Keith, Hunk, Pidge and Sven behind her with their own reactions.

"Are there people there?" Sven asked, not knowing, not realizing where it was it was looking.

"There is a whole underground city in those caves," Lance said, highlighting the caves, right above the fault line... "How did we not know they were above a fucking fault line!"

"We have to get out there," Keith yelled. "We'll take the lions."

"When we get there, Hunk needs to do scans of area as deeply as he can... I want to know what's going on underneath the surface right down to the fault line... Yellow's the only lion who can do it," Lance heard himself say before he fully knew he was going to say it.

Why was the Underground on a fault line? The reasons the Undergrounds existed throughout Arus were not upstanding...he didn't like it, he didn't like it at all. He knew Alfor had wanted to put an end them. He was going to have to have a long talk with Coran after the crisis. He had to know what was going on under the surface there. Nothing for years, not even a hiccup and now this? There were dormant volcanoes nearby... But were they truly dormant?

He had to know, he had to make sure the people in the Underground were safe. There were people Allura and he could find homes above ground but others... They were damaged by war, more and more as the years went onward. Some of them had been damaged before the war, lost souls, different than whatever the definition of 'normal' is supposed to be. Then there was the criminal element down there. It was where Arus hid it's dirty little secrets.

But right now the main focus had to be saving them from the current natural disaster and then focus on the complicated repercussions. Allura's wish to bring the Underground into the light was about to happen sooner than they'd thought. He turned and looked right at her, even as he heard Keith command coldly.

"Let's focus on the getting the people evacuated then checking out what the reasons are for the earthquake. Come on, to the lions,"

Lance looked at Sven. "Go with Allura, please?"

Sven nodded.

Allura gripped his hand. He squeezed back and they quickly kissed, then they both ran to their chutes.

Lance heard her in his mind. _How bad is it, with the people, injuries? Trapped? What about how damaged they are anyway, to deal with something like this?_

_I'm not sure. We'll focus on the injured, and evacuation. Then we're going to have find out how to help people that Arus has never offered to help before. For all the lost souls who have gone down there._

_It's what I want, but we have no plans, I wanted more of an idea what was needed for my people in there who need help. What my society has felt needed to be hidden that shouldn't have been._

_I know. It will be okay, come on we don't have time to waste right now, Allura._

_I love you._

Lance grinned as he fell into his seat in Red's cockpit. _I love you too, baby._

Keith started the launch sequence and the five lions took off toward the entrance to the caves.

~~.~~

_Keith and Lance back to back. Eyes wide, hands out in defensive stance. Both of them standing tall, strong and resolute. With identical expressions on their faces._

The image had woken Mira up, it was the one steady image in the cacophony of sights and sounds flying through her minds eye throughout her day. Mixing with the present, the near and far future. It didn't coalesce into one proper vision until moments before the alarm went off in the Castle.

Mira sat with Fin, in Allura's garden, he'd taken work and board in the Castle. She visited him often, it helped them both with her mother's death. Her dealing with the fact she had gotten her mother back too late to have her at all. Him to have someone to grieve with for Altea. The woman he had silently loved for decades; protected until the end when he couldn't any longer.

She'd been holding Fin's hand when the hazy visions she was having became a clear. She saw her home tremble and shift, boulders form from the walls, slides of sediment and stone crash to the ground on top of her neighbors, and quite possibly her family. In seeing it all she nearly crushed Fin's elderly bones. Fin didn't flinch however, he knew the signs of the Sight when he saw it.

She saw the cave in, then a series of moments following it, she was so lost in the vision focusing on Lance, Allura and Keith she didn't even know the Castle alarms had gone off until the visions stopped. Then she stood up in time to see the Lions fly off to the location.

"I have to go."

"You will take my horse," Fin said, leading her toward the stables and handing over his own horse. One of the only things he'd been given to own himself.

She nodded, kissed his cheek and hopped on the horse bareback; it was a young horse, fast, quick, sharp. She led toward her home, it would always be her home. Her heart pounding. Tarus and Ara where in there, her parents... Espen, Padraic and the Seers.

Her heart pounded with the beat of the hooves.

~~.~~

It was chaos.

The Underground City guards were doing their best to reign everything in but the city was in chaos, more than half the denizens of the caves where armed and drunk. There were brawls going on when the team walked in. Keith immediately turned to Allura to tell her to walk back out.

Lance and Allura both glared right at him, both of them shaking their heads as they looked at the crowds, sadness, dismay, just a few of the mass of emotions on their faces before they looked passed the crowds to the damage. To the rock dust in the air, to the people trying to pull people out from under rocks. To people screaming the names of the missing, to the holes in the ceiling where once there had been rock and now there was sky.

To the a huge hole in the ground that didn't seem to have any land below, at least any that could be seen by the naked eye - Keith realized when they got closer to get more intel.

The more Keith talked to the guards trying to handle the situation on sight, the more chaotic and crazy it seemed to be. How the hell could they deal with this. These cities were insane, why did Arus have them... Did they really want to forget these people existed?

He kept looking at Allura, who wouldn't leave Lance's side, she shouldn't be here, it was too dangerous way too dangerous. But he couldn't force her to leave. But he could protect her... It was still his job. He got on the comms and ordered as much of Castle security of they could afford down here, asking for the top two to report to him directly. He'd put them on Allura. To protect her from the insanity down here. At all cost.

"I need to see Commander McClain...It's important, very important, I can't find her... I don't see her..." a woman somewhere around Nanny's age was clinging to Hunk while at the same time her eyes were darting everywhere around them.

"Boss," Hunk waved him over.

Keith heard him but got distracted. Lance had jumped into the middle of the latest brawl to break it up with a few of the guards who run this place. Keith had been about to jump in too to help him out of the jam he'd gotten himself into but somehow he'd stopped it. But he hadn't diffused the situation completely, Keith could still see waves of tension off of both sides of men, but they were listening to Lance...to the damn King.

Keith shook it off, saw Hunk once again waving him over and gave his attention to the woman. "I'm Commander Kogane, what is it?"

"She's mentioned you, my daughter... Lara. She comes down here, to help the younger ones, the girls who want out of here, who are born here and don't know they can leave. She tries to get them out. She's so... Young. She doesn't even know I know. I know she was in here. I can't find her. You have to find her."

"Lara Wyeth?" Keith repeated stupidly as he looked into the woman's eyes. He saw it now, the woman's hair wasn't as vibrant as her daughters and her eyes weren't green but he saw the resemblance.

"Yes. I'm afraid," she stared at the fallen rocks, the caves. "There are rooms and catacombs beyond there...she... My Lara could be..."

"I promise we..." over Mrs. Wyeth shoulder Keith caught sight of someone else he didn't want down here, that shouldn't be down here. "Mira! What the hell are you doing here?"

Mira turned to him from where she was looking, her amber eyes as hard as glass. "There are things you, Lance and Allura need to know...but first I... Tarus and Ara were here, Espen, Padraic...my family" she starts to walk toward a throng of people.

Keith almost shoved Mrs. Wyeth to the ground, getting around her, to grab Mira. "No. No, I can't lose you," he grabbed her shoulder. "Stay in sight. You shouldn't be here."

"In my home! During a crisis." Mira stared at him like he had two heads.

"Commander? Lara?"

Keith groaned. "I promise you we'll find Lara, Mrs. Wyeth but you shouldn't be here. Hunk, take her top side will you?"

Hunk nodded. "Lady Mira, will keep an eye out for your parents too."

Mira gave Hunk a courtesy smile, looking around, Keith watched her feeling wretched...he knew where she came from but he'd forget. She didn't seem like she'd lived somewhere out of the light to him.

She was on her toes now, scanning, doing a slow one-eighty around the caves from where she stood near him. When her eyes fell on Lance, in the middle of the two groups of brawlers, the fallen rocks and craters, the hole in the ground and covered up caves to catacombs she paled.

"We'll find them, Mira."

"No...I...so many people live," she stuttered. "They live down there... Lara...my parents...I... can't see it. I can't _see_ it..." She looked at him eyes wide, face pale, and taking hold of her shoulder Keith realized she was shaking.

"Hey, hey, we'll find them," he repeated.

"Will we?" she whispered, so low he barely heard her. Then she seemed to shake herself. "You should be listening to Lance now..." she said.

Keith blinked. "He's busy," he said, but he turned and looked and saw that the two groups had become one now. And more of the citizens who weren't hurt had joined in listening to Lance speak. Sven and Pidge were standing there with him and Allura, and the reinforcements from the Castle. Security and medics alike.

"Listen..." Mira repeated, taking his hand, walking toward Lance until they were standing behind Lance, Allura, Sven and Pidge themselves.

Keith didn't want to listen but as he glanced around both his eyes and ears realized that for the first time since walking into the main cave of the Underground that it was quiet, that the chaos of a bevy of citizens had silenced and they had all their ears and eyes positioned on one man.

Lance it seemed had noticed the change in the environment too. He paused in what he'd been saying, swallowed, Keith was behind him but he could imagine what Lance's adam's apple looked like when it bobbed nervously.

Keith watched as Allura's hand slipped into Lance's. Silent support, a moment of transfer of inner strength from one to the other. He hated it, he hated seeing her give Lance that silent core of hope. Faith. Something Allura had in spades for those she loved and more so for her planet, her people.

"Listen." Mira squeezed his hand.

He looked at her and was about to say Lance wasn't talking when his voice filled the silence in the cave.

"It was an earthquake. There could be more, that's a fact of earthquakes. It was not an attack on Arus, it isn't Zarkon. This isn't about the war - and if it was we'd be here as soon as we could be, I swear it on my life. We know you are here and Princess Allura and I..." he looked at Allura and she nodded. Keith could feel Lance hesitating and then he heard why.

"And I the True King..." Lance spoke quickly, almost too fast to understand but he made sure it was understandable nonetheless. "We know about you, and we will protect you as we protect ALL the citizens of Arus. Right now I need ALL of you to work with us. To help us with the injured and help us move the rocks to get to the others and help them. There could be another earthquake, so we also need to evacuate this entire area. I need volunteers for BOTH of these things. Pidge and Hunk..." Hunk arrived just in time to be pointed at. "Will be covering evacuations, with the Princess. While I, Sven and," he looked back and saw Keith. A quick look of: _Are you with me_? passed between them. Keith nodded because Lance was right. "Keith, my Commander, will be focusing on rescue efforts. Is that all understood... We'll understand if you don't want to volunteer but please do allow yourselves to be evacuated."

Lance stopped then and nodded at the crowd, Keith held his breath. He had to give it to Lance, it was a good speech. How he'd gotten all their attention, kept it...they were trusting him as much as they could trust. Keith scanned the crowds, they were growing noisy again but not to the same level. He wasn't hearing gun shots there were no fights breaking out. People seemed to be thinking about volunteering to help out with evacuations or with the rescue work.

Keith let out a breath just as Lance turned to him and shook his head. "Hell of a long day ahead, huh?"

All Keith could do was nod.


	86. Chapter 86

**Notes**: Sorry if this choppy at first, and kind of fillery... but damn it, I am gonna finish this story if it kills me. Gotta get my groove back somehow and starting where I left off it is.. Anyway, for any of you still reading, thank you for being patient and putting up with so many chapters and breaks between the latests. Rachel

Chapter Eighty-six

Lance's fingers dug into her skin, through the fabric of her pants, pulling her roughly into him, almost desperately so... They shouldn't be doing this, Allura thought, but it doesn't stop her from threading her hands into his hair, pressing against the back of his skull to push his mouth more into hers. The kiss was greedy, it was selfish and she needed it as much as he did...

Devastation was all around them, they were about to go in two separate directions to do whatever they could to fix it. To help those who thought they were unwanted by the Princess of Arus - who now knew that was untrue... Allura was going to prove it to them. Their King was going to prove it to them; the citizens of the Underground were the first to know Arus did indeed have a True King again in Lance McClain.

He'd taken on the truth of it, the honor of it and today the title of it, Allura thought tasting his mouth, taking in that strength and giving him hers. He'd prove it, they'd save the people from this natural disaster - it'd be the beginning of many steps of bringing the lost out of the dark.

And maybe, just maybe one of those lost would be Keith too, maybe he and Lance would end up closer again, talking about... There could be steps toward conciliation between the two most important men in her world...as well as between her and Keith.

A whole other reason why she and Lance shouldn't be taking this moment, this stolen moment, in a darken corner, against a wall of rock, in the Underground to kiss each other so-long for far too long.

_We shouldn't be doing this? _

_You keep thinking that but then your tongue is back in my mouth... _Allura heard his laughter in her mind. _We should stop..._she heard his sigh, his fingers flexed against her hips, he pulled away his tongue licked his lips.

Allura felt hot, knew a blush was over her entire body, thankful that she dressed, that the world could only at best catch a glimpse of the blush on her cheek. "I better..."

"You better," he whispered back. "Allura, be careful."

"You too," she paused, grabbed his hand, stared into his hazel green eyes holding his gaze. Willing him to know...tread careful with everything but most vitally with Keith.

Lance watched Allura vanish into the crowds, with Hunk and Pidge on either side of her. He took a few deep breaths, turned to go looking for Keith and nearly crashed right into Mira.

"Mira... I..."

"I can't find my family, and all I know is that to know how they are is to be with you," she said. Her tone was determined but her face, her eyes were scared.

She was trying to phrase it as a plea, a hope, that he wouldn't push her away, and let her come with them. Lance felt it in in her tone, saw it in her expression. But the way she stood, the angle she held her shoulders, a certain glint her eyes...

It reminded him of her mother, a strong, unbending woman who had died for him, claiming he was more important, Lance would never feel that was true...he was just a guy from a Nebraska who had gotten crazy lucky... and well, thrown into the crazy. Sentient Lions, telepathic links with not only the woman he loved but a planet...

Seers who saw the strings of the potential future. Mira couldn't see her family, safe, and it was because she was with him... so he had to let her be with him? His head hurt, he decided not to think about it. "Fine, stick with me...we'll find them Mira."

As much as he preferred Mira to the older seers, Tarus and the others were older, they knew more, they understood who Lance was to Arus better than he did. He needed them, on Arus's molten core he hoped they were okay. For both Mira and selfishly for himself.

He didn't know how to be a King, he didn't know how to use his link to Arus. He caught sight of Keith, giving orders, making decisions in the center of the caves they were in, where they'd made their command center. Panic threatened to rise, would Keith be able to put aside his animosity towards him? His hurt and, understandable sense of betrayal?

Lance missed his friend, but right now he couldn't focus on that loss. He had to help Arus survive the loss of life down here. The loss of life of people Arus, for some reason had been pretending didn't exist for years. Something he and Allura were putting a stop too... saying right now that they did matter.

He could tell from the looks he was getting from the older citizens of the Underground who had stayed around to volunteer them in helping to move rocks, to find those buried in tunnels, to dig out those buried, injured and dead...

He could see in their eyes the surprise that the Voltron Force, the Princess, that he the True King - it seemed all Arusians recognized the silly damn title - cared.

He wanted to tell them Alfor had cared, he had cared but never got a chance to change this. Allura was carrying out her father's wishes, he was just here for the ride. Honored to help.

"So, uh, did they tell you about Lara?" Keith's voice cut into his thoughts.

Panic did rise up then, adrenaline rushed through him. He found himself looking at the caved in tunnels, where he knew people couldn't have survived and where he knew some may have. His heart pounding, he and Lara weren't meant to be, but he'd loved her in a way, he did love her in a way - he just wasn't in love with her. She was his friend, she was a bright, loud shining light.

She'd told him about this place... of course she'd been here.

"Shit," he inhaled sharply. "No, she's not..."

Keith shook his head, fast, quick, and sounded contrite as he quickly said, "No, no, she's not dead..." he paused, because maybe he shouldn't say what didn't know... Lance saw the thought cross his face. "We just know she's among the missing. Her mother came down looking for her, I sent her back outside."

Lance embraced denial, it would be his truth until he was proven wrong and he'd be proven right. "Lara's fine, she's too much of a ..."

"Bitch," Keith muttered.

Lance glared, "Scrapper to let this stop her."

Keith looked away, his expression closed off, apologetic but his inablity to look at Lance in the eye said he didn't want Lance to know, he hadn't meant to say that.

"Are we going to start doing some searching, or just stand here?" Mira asked.

Keith startled, it was as if he just noticed that Mira was standing there behind Lance. "I told you to go outside, and help there."

"And I told you that i am not leaving these caves until I know how my parents, and the rest of my family are!" Mira snapped.

"She's staying with us. It could come in handy..." Lance said.

"She's a civilian, a Seer, she's too important..."

"It's her family Keith...think about it?" Lance said.

Keith and he glared at each other for what felt like a full minute, Lance thought that this should be fun, as they butted heads, silently and it seemed from minute one. Finally Keith threw up his hands. "Fine, but we both keep our eyes on her, Lance. She gets hurt, it's on you."

Lance shook his head. "Fine."

"If I get hurt it is noone's responsibility but my own," Mira muttered.

"It's mine because I'm the leader of the Voltron Force."

"It's mine because I'm the King."

They both said it in unison.

"He's overriding me," Keith said. "It's on him," then he turned around to give his attention to someone else hovering around wanting his attention.

Mira let a huff of air, Lance started to open his mouth, but she shook her head. "Starting the search is more important then any apology you have to offer."

He couldn't argue with that, he nodded, steeled himself and walked over to Keith, he wanted to be himself down here, helping out as he could, he wanted to be the guy who piloted Red Lion. He'd use his connection to Arus as was needed, when it was needed, if it was needed, only. Keith was his commanding officer, he went to get orders.

Keith had about ten groups of varied numbers working on the various entrances of passageways in the Underground that had been closed off by rockfall. Lance, he and Mira working on one of the main passages used the most, where the most people were likely trapped, injured and dead.

It was tedious, nail biting work, because one wrong move and they risked more rockfall, and would undo all their work and possibly hurt the people they were trying to save more. Keith had made sure each team had someone who understood the physics of the situation, they were who were leading the movements of the team moving the rockfall.

After a while though, Lance started to see an aura of some sort around the rocks...a soft glowing green light, that was the rocks of Arus themselves telling him: Us. Move us next... It lined up with the experts, he watched for awhile...it wasn't an exact match up and when the experts wanted to a move a rock that wasn't lit green, but was right next to the one that was... he had to speak up.

"No, we can't move that one," he said.

They all stopped short. Keith's dark stare felt stabbing. Lance had no choice. "Uh, I just.. we need to move this one," he tapped the larger boulder to the left of smaller one the experts had deemed was the best bet for the next rock to work loose.

The experts started to shake their heads, Keith glared at Lance. "So who should I listen too, them or you, who knows nothing of physics, or rocks?"

"Him," Mira said. She was staring at the rocks too, then at everyone around them. "He sees things we can't when he looks on the materials of Arus."

Lance ducked his head, elbow on the back of his neck..._It would always sound so fucking ridiculous, _he let out a nervous laugh.

"That's what this is isn't. You see something about the bigger rock, and not the one they think we should move," Keith muttered, tone annoyed, frustrated.

Lance nodded. He wasn't about to give him the details, but he was going to trust Arus lead him in the right direction. "It is what it is, Keith."

Keith groaned, talked it out with the two experts a bit, they weren't sure, but they were more than willing to listen to their King. Lance hoped he wasn't blushing. Finally Keith nodded and they started on working the larger boulder Lance had indicated out.

It didn't seem to want to budge, or move, the work was frustrating, hard, tedious and Lance could feel Keith's glare as if it was Voltron's laser eyes boring into his skull.

Then bam, the boulder moved out and it started a cascade effect of rocks and gravel. Lance had another moment of panic, his heart leaped to his throat that they rocks would come falling around on top of them, closing up the entrance more, undoing all the progress they made...

But instead it opened up a hole, and they could see inside the entrance... Where Lara Wyeth's dirty face was on the other side, staring right out them, green eyes bright as the light hit her face, making her blink away from it until she forced herself to look back into it.

"It's about damn time!" She shouted.


	87. Chapter 87

Chapter Eighty-Seven

It wasn't pretty on Lara's side of the cave in, the passage way, according to those who walked it daily had been made smaller by half. Lara had been tending to a group of six Underground citizens, who had been injured. Some worse than others... Keith and Lance, quickly triaged them, and got the worse headed toward trained doctors and surgeons.

Lara refused to leave, every time Keith, or Lance told her to go ahead and evacuate herself from the situation, get herself checked out - she had a gash on her head, though it didn't look too deep. She glared, pointed at some who needed help and looked toward the three passages that the one they'd opened lead to... All three blocked, except one had a hold enough for a person to slide through if they held their breath and pushed for it.

Lance had had enough on her fifth look. "Lara?"

Lara turned, her green eyes meeting his and she shook her head. "The Seers, they were down that passage. It's where they lived, where their altars are."

Lance glanced toward Mira, who was floating between him and Keith, he almost thought she was playing a human barrier to keep them civil, as well as a making sure she was a part of the rescue operations. She nodded. "Yes, down that way is home..." She looked directly at Lara again, her voice low and afraid as she spoke. "I keep seeing Esleben with a gun? Waving it, crazed..." she trailed off, she sounded...not unsure but as if she wished to be unsure about what she was seeing.

"He's armed. He stole one of Jude's weapons... He..." Lara met Lance's gaze, her face full of apology, full of fear. "He handled the quake badly, he snapped... We'd seen Tarus and Ara come through... It was like he went to another time and place...blaming the Seers."

Lance felt his heart drop to his throat, Mira paled, he started to move toward her afraid she might fall... but Keith was there first, hands around her waist as she did lose the ability to stand.

"No. No, no... Esleben wouldn't...no?" Mira whispered.

Lara looked lost as she answered. "I've never seen him like he was... Jude forced me into a promise to stay here and went after them."

Lance sighed. "And you weren't saying anything, Lara, because?"

Lara's gaze stabbed him. "Because I'm not about to send the Commander and the King on what could be a suicide mission..." her voice breaks as she stares at Lance. "And I'm not about to send someone else I care about down that black hole..." she starts to cry. "Damn it, damn it, damn him!"

Lance took two large steps and grabbed her into a hug. "You don't decide what I and Keith do," he said he said, running a hand up and down her back. "I'm going to go find out what is keeping Jude, and help the Seers and Esleben."

"Not alone you're not," Keith snapped.

"I have to go too, my family," Mira said.

"Not without me," Lara answered back.

vvv

Keith squeezed through the crack in the rocks last. It'd look a tight fit, he found it be tighter than he estimated, his gut sucked in, jagged rocks digging into his back, scrapping at his skin through the fabric of his uniform. But less than a minute later and he was in another passageway... smaller than the first, made smaller still from caved in rock. What the past leaders of Arus had been thinking sending people to live here? He knew what... it disgusted him, he couldn't fathom Allura came from such ancestry. But then again Earth history had it dark, dark corners as well.

His own specific lineage, those cultures... they held horrible truths as well. All people learned from the pasts of their heritiage he guessed, and could only hope to do better.

His eyes fell on Mira as he stepped into the darker passage, Lance ahead trying to keep Lara from steamrolling ahead. She held a torch, her face sad, her large brown eyes - that always seemed haunted to him, more haunted than he'd ever seen them. He wanted it go away, it made him uneasy.

She turned and looked at him as he thought it, her gaze sharpening a bit, it was determination. "Don't you dare try to make me turn back again," she said.

Keith shook his head. He'd given up, no one wanted to be safe that he had a job to protect it seemed. He couldn't force them without it taking up too much time. Time he felt they didn't have. An aftershock could concuss under their feet at any second.

Her featured softened, then she was moving, all most at Lara's same steamroller pace, right after her and Lance. Keith sighed, formed a light with his voltcom and followed; Mira's torch light causing crazy shadows across the path.

"Tell me about Esleben," he said, wanting to know what kind of crazy he was about to deal with as he fell into step with Mira.

"It's not his fault," Mira said. "Whatever is going on with him right now, it's not really his fault..." she trails off.

"Mira, I understand that but I need to know what to expect."

"He lost everything when Zarkon first attacked Arus. He had a wife, kids, they all were killed, in front of him. He couldn't stop it - I don't know the details. I don't think anyone but Esleben knows the full story... He's always blamed himself I think. He does an inordinate amount helping out the women and kids down here, never turns his back on them - including me, which... He blamed he Seers for awhile. Tarus once told me we had to hide from Esleben and others. I don't know what happened...but one day Tarus came home and said we could start mixing with the others, Esleben would protect us... Some kind of truce, maybe. I do not know. I think Tarus and Esleben have known each other a long-long time, before the war."

Keith nodded. Broken man, a war and history that went past the war, he took it all in and saw that a few steps ahead that Lance was listening as well, from the way he'd fallen just a hair behind Lara.

"He's a good man, eccentric, guilty; I mean he's always carried his own blame for his family, despite blaming the Seers at some point, at some level... I don't know. I just don't know why he'd go after my parents now."

"Sometimes things just don't make sense," Keith said, his eyes on the back of Lance's head. Like Lance a king, like Lance and Allura. Like Lance saying he can see aura's around rocks and talks to a damn planet - never making sense, stupidest damn thing he's ever heard. Is sure he'd stop reading a book, or leave a movie, if that happened. Problem was this was his life and he was stuck with it... As a truth. He had to live with it... and this moment and Mira's family was in danger and that mattered a hell of lot more than his issues with Lance and Allura. He shook himself mentally, he had to get a grip.

"Mira, it will be..."

"Don't lie to me to try make me feel better, Commander," Mira snapped, cutting him off. "Please, just don't."

Keith sighed. If she wouldn't let him do that, there was no way to help her until they found Jude, Esleben and her parents. "How much longer to where you think they are?" he asked.

Mira sighed. "It's about ten minutes. The altars are deep down in the caves, furtherest away from the entrance, the most hidden passageways... We had to be the most hidden citizens. We were the most at risk for so long."

"Jude...Jude knows the tunnels as well as anyone... He got down there and he's...he's..." Lara trailed off. Keith could only guess she wasn't much into the idea of lies, to make herself feel better, either.

vvv

Allura shivered. She was taking a moment to herself, walked over to the entrance of the Underground. A constant flow of evacuations streamed out of it... So many lost people, so many broken souls. She hated her ancestors. She wished father had been able to implement his plan to end these... awful places.

She would end them. She hugged herself, a wind bring gooseflesh across her skin, but it wasn't really the end. Lance and Keith were in there, deep down in there, trying to save people. Important people. Brave citizens like Lara, who hadn't stood for the status quo and fought it... Allura would always be a bit jealous of Lara due to her admiration of her. She sighed, it was ridiculous. She had no reason to be jealous of the woman yet... she was. Mostly because Lara was amazing.

Mira. Mira was down there afraid the man and woman who had raised her were in trouble, murdered by one of the Undergrounds broken souls. A man who should have been given psychotherapy, medication, help for the trauma the Drules' war on Arus had heaped against him.

Mira who had learned about her mother only to be shown a dead body... Mira who was sweet, wise and willing to aid Allura no question asked. Be her Seer, and be brave enough to do it publicly when Arus was still a place where that may not be the smartest move.

Allura wanted to be Mira's friend, she hoped they were moving toward it. She admired her wisdom, her bravery, her gift. She would not allow the absurd, brought on by fear, hatred of the Seers to last... Yet that was why Mira right now was afraid. A man who had forgiven the Seers, saw past his own mistakes and seen that he'd been unfair t a people... had possibly broken and gone back to blaming them, to not face the hole within himself.

Damn it, she wish Lance hadn't checked in. She wouldn't be so worried... no that was a lie. She'd be more worried not knowing anything. Yet... She shivered again and hugged herself tighter.

A warm coat falls on her shoulders, she jumped a bit, then turned to see Hunk. He shrugged. "Got it from one of the soldiers who live here, can't let you catch cold."

"I should get back to work."

"Break won't hurt for a bit longer."

"I'm worried."

Hunk crossed his arms, nodded.

Allura smile, stepped closer to him, he slung an arm around her. They worried together for awhile.


End file.
